ISAIAH 55 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Invitation to the Thirsty

55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

1.BARNES, “Ho - (הוי ho�y). This word here is designed to call attention to the subject as one of importance.

Every one that thirsteth - The word ‘thirst’ often indicates intense desire, and is thus applied to the sense of want which sinners often have, and to their anxious wishes for salvation. It is not improbable that the Savior had this passage in his eye when he pronounced the blessing on those who hunger and thirst after righteousness Mat_5:6. No needs are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply, as those of hunger and thirst. They occur daily; and when long continued, as in the case of those who are shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. Hence, the figure is often used to denote any intense desire for anything, and especially an ardent desire for salvation (see Psa_42:2; Psa_63:1; Psa_143:6; Joh_7:37). The invitation here is made to all.

‘Everyone’ (כל ko�l) is entreated to come. It is not offered to the elect only, or to the rich, the

great, the noble; but it is made to all. It is impossible to conceive of language more universal in its nature than this; and while this stands in the Word of God, the invitation may be made to all, and should be made to all, and must be made to all. It proves that provision is made for all. Can

God invite to a salvation which has not been provided? Can he ask a man to partake of a banquet which has no existence? Can he ask a man to drink of waters when there are none? Can he tantalize the hopes and mock the miseries of people by inviting them to enter a heaven where they would be unwelcome, or to dwell in mansions which have never been provided? (compare Mat_11:28; Mar_16:15; Joh_7:37; Rev_22:17).

Come ye to the waters - Water, floods, overflowing streams, or copious showers, are often used in the Scriptures to denote abundant blessings from God, and especially the blessings which would exist under the Messiah (see Isa_35:6; Isa_43:20; Isa_44:3).

And he that hath no money - The poor; they who would be unable to purchase salvation if it were to be sold. The idea here is the absolute freeness of the offer of salvation. No man can excuse himself for not being a Christian because he is poor; no man who is rich can ever boast that he has bought salvation, or that he has obtained it on more easy terms because he had property.

Come ye, buy and eat - (Compare Mat_13:44-46). That is, procure it without paying a

price. The word rendered here ‘buy’ (שבר sha�bar), properly means to break, then to purchase etc.

(grain), as that which is broken in a mill (Gesenius), or that which breaks hunger; compare Eng. breakfast (Castell.)

Buy wine - (יין yayin). Wine was commonly used in their feasts, and indeed was an article of

common drink (see the notes at Isa_25:6). Here it is emblematic of the blessings of salvation spoken of as a feast made for people. Wine is usually spoken of as that which exhilarates, or makes glad the heart Jdg_9:13; 2Sa_13:28; Psa_104:15, and it is possible that the image here may be designed specifically to denote that the blessings of salvation make people happy, or dissipate the sorrows of life, and cheer them in their troubles and woes.

And milk - Milk, in the Scriptures, is used to denote that which nourishes, or is nutritious Deu_32:14; Jdg_4:1; Jdg_5:25; Isa_7:22; 1Co_9:7. It is mentioned as used with wine in Son_5:1, ‘I have drunk my wine with my milk;’ and with honey Son_4:11, ‘Honey and milk are under my tongue.’ The sense here is, that the blessings of the gospel are suited to nourish and support the soul as well as to make it glad and cheerful.

Without money ... - None are so poor that they cannot procure it; none are so rich that they can purchase it with gold. If obtained at all by the poor or the rich, it must be without money and without price. If the poor are willing to accept of it as a gift, they are welcome; and if the rich will not accept of it as a gift, they cannot obtain it. What a debt of gratitude we owe to God, who has thus placed it within the reach of all: How cheerfully and thankfully should we accept float as a gift which no wealth, however princely, could purchase, and which, being purchased by the merits of the Redeemer, is put within the reach of the humblest child of Adam!

2. CLARKE, “Ho, every one that thirsteth - “Water,” says Zimchi, “is a metaphor for the law and wisdom: as the world cannot subsist without water, so it is impossible that it can subsist without wisdom. The law is also compared to wine and milk: to wine because wine rejoiceth the heart, as it is written: ‘The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart,’ Psa_19:8. It is compared also to milk, because milk is the subsistence of the child; so are the words of the law the nourishment of his soul who walks in the Divine teaching, and grows up under it.”

Come, buy wine and milk - In ancient times our forefathers used what is now called the old third person singular, ending in eth, for the imperative mood. We have a fine example of His in the first verses of this chapter. I shall present them as they stand in my old MS. Bible: - Alle gee thirstinge cummeth to wateris: and gee that han not sylver, goth forth and bieth, and etith.

Cummeth, bieth without silver, and without eny chaungyng, wyn and mylc. Heerith gee, heering me and etith gode thinge, and deliten schal in fattnesse your soule. Bowith in your eie and cummeth to mee, heerith and liven schal your soule. And I shall smyten with gou, everlastynge covenant, the faithful mercies of David.

3. GILL, “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,.... These are the words not of the prophet, but of the Lord, as what follows throughout the chapter shows; and are directed to the Gentiles, as Aben Ezra thinks: and indeed their conversion is manifestly spoken of in it; and who, Kimchi says, after the war of Gog and Magog, shall know that the Lord reigns, and shall come and be desirous of learning his judgments and laws. The word "ho" is expressive of calling, as the Jewish commentators rightly observe; and carries in it an invitation, in which there seems to be a commiseration of the case of the persons called and it is delivered in indefinite terms, and very openly and publicly; and has in it the nature of a Gospel call or invitation, to persons described as "thirsty"; not in natural, much less in a sinful sense, but in a spiritual one; thirsting after forgiveness of sin by the blood of Christ; after justification by his righteousness; after salvation by him; after more knowledge of him, more communion with him, and more conformity to him; and after the milk of the word, and breasts of ordinances; being sensible of sin and danger, and having a spiritual appetite, and a desire after spiritual things. Such as these are persons made alive; are in distress, and sensible of it; and have desires formed in them after divine things: and these are invited and encouraged to "come to the waters"; by which are meant not Christ, though he is as "rivers of water"; and sensible sinners are directed to come to him, and that as in a starving and famishing condition, and having nothing to help themselves with; and such things are to be had of him, which like water are refreshing and reviving, as his grace, and the blessings of it; and which serve to extinguish thirst, and free from it; yet not he, nor the grace of the spirit, are intended, which is often signified by water in Scripture; but rather the ordinances of the Gospel, which are the means of conveying grace, and of refreshing and comforting distressed minds; in order to which, such may come and hear the word, come and partake of all ordinances. The allusion seems to be to such places by the waterside, where ships, laden with provisions, come and unlade; and where persons, by a public crier, are informed of it, and are called to come and buy. So water means the water side, Jdg_7:4. Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret them of the law, and the doctrines of it; and so the Targum, "ho, everyone that would learn, let him come and learn;'' but the Gospel, and the doctrines and ordinances of that, seem rather designed: and he that hath no money; not in a natural, but in a spiritual sense: unconverted persons have nothing to support themselves or pay off their debts with, though they fancy they have, and that they are rich, and stand in need of nothing; but sensible souls know they have none, and that they are poor and needy; yet these are invited to come where provisions are to be had, since they are to be had at free cost: come ye, buy and eat; come to the ordinances, partake of them freely, and feed upon the provisions therein made: come, buy wine and milk, without money, and without price; by wine and milk are meant the Gospel and its doctrines, compared to good old generous wine, for the antiquity of them, and for their being of a reviving and refreshing nature; and to "milk", for its purity and

sweetness, and for its cooling and nourishing nature, and because easy of digestion; these are to be bought, and not to be sold. Pro_23:23, but not in a proper sense; no valuable consideration can be given for them, for they are of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; nor have we anything to give to God for them, and the blessings of grace conveyed by them, which is not his own, or can be profitable to him; but in an improper sense, when something thought valuable is parted with for them, as sinful and righteous self, and even everything in life, when called for, and that itself; these are bought without any money or price on our part; they are freely given and received; and on this basis may men expect them, and have them. The Targum is, "he that hath no silver, come, hear and learn; come, hear and learn, without price and money, doctrine better than wine and milk.''

4. HENRY, “Here, I. We are all invited to come and take the benefit of that provision which the grace of God has made for poor souls in the new covenant, of that which is the heritage of the servants of the Lord (Isa_54:17), and not only their heritage hereafter, but their cup now, Isa_55:1. Observe,

1. Who are invited: Ho, every one. Not the Jews only, to whom first the word of salvation was sent, but the Gentiles, the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind, are called to this marriage supper, whoever can be picked up out of the highways and the hedges. It intimates that in Christ there is enough for all and enough for each, that ministers are to make a general offer of life and salvation to all, that in gospel times the invitation should be more largely made than it had been and should be sent to the Gentiles, and that the gospel covenant excludes none that do

not exclude themselves. The invitation is published with an Oyez - Ho, take notice of it. He that has ears to hear let him hear.

2. What is the qualification required in those that shall be welcome - they must thirst. All shall be welcome to gospel grace upon those terms only that gospel grace be welcome to them. Those that are satisfied with the world and its enjoyments for a portion, and seek not for a happiness in the favour of God, - those that depend upon the merit of their own works for a righteousness, and see no need they have of Christ and his righteousness, - these do not thirst; they have no sense of their need, are in no pain or uneasiness about their souls, and therefore will not condescend so far as to be beholden to Christ. But those that thirst are invited to the waters, as those that labour, and are heavy-laden, are invited to Christ for rest. Note, Where God gives grace he first gives a thirsting after it; and, where he has given a thirsting after it, he will give it, Psa_81:10.

3. Whither they are invited: Come you to the waters. Come to the water-side, to the ports, and quays, and wharfs, on the navigable rivers, into which goods are imported; thither come and buy, for that is the market-place of foreign commodities; and to us they would have been for ever foreign if Christ had not brought in an everlasting righteousness. Come to Christ; for he is the fountain opened; he is the rock smitten. Come to holy ordinances, to those streams that make glad the city of our God; come to them, and though they may seem to you plain and common things, like waters, yet to those who believe in Christ the things signified will be as wine and mile, abundantly refreshing. Come to the healing waters; come to the living waters. Whoever will, let him come, and partake of the waters of life, Rev_22:17. Our Saviour referred to it, Joh_7:37. If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.

4. What they are invited to do. (1.) Come, and buy. Never did any tradesman court customers that he hoped to get by as Christ courts us to that which we only are to be gainers by. “Come and buy, and we can assure you you shall have a good bargain, which you will never repent of nor lose by. Come and buy; make it your own by an application of the grace of the gospel to yourselves; make it your own upon Christ's terms, nay, your own upon any terms, nor

deliberating whether you shall agree to them.” (2.) “Come, and eat; make it still more your own, as that which we eat is more our own than that which we only buy.” We must buy the truth, not that we may lay it by to be looked at, but that we may feed and feast upon it, and that the spiritual life may be nourished and strengthened by it. We must buy necessary provisions for our souls, be willing to part with any thing, though ever so dear to us, so that we may but have Christ and his graces and comforts. We must part with sin, because it is an opposition to Christ, part with all opinion of our own righteousness, as standing in competition with Christ, and part with life itself, and its most necessary supports, rather than quit our interest in Christ. And, when we have bought what we need, let us not deny ourselves the comfortable use of it, but enjoy it, and eat the labour of our hands: Buy, and eat.

5. What is the provision they are invited to: “Come, and buy wine and milk, which will not only quench the thirst” (fair water would do that), “but nourish the body, and revive the spirits.” The world comes short of our expectations. We promise ourselves, at least, water in it, but we are disappointed of that, as the troops of Tema, Job_6:19. But Christ outdoes our expectations. We come to the waters, and would be glad of them, but we find there wine and milk, which were the staple commodities of the tribe of Judah, and which the Shiloh of that tribe is furnished with to entertain the gathering of the people to him, Gen_49:10, Gen_49:12. His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk. We must come to Christ, to have milk for babes, to nourish and cherish those that are but lately born again; and with him strong men shall find that which will be a cordial to them: they shall have wine to make glad their hearts. We must part with our puddle-water, nay, with our poison, that we may procure this wine and milk.

6. The free communication of this provision: Buy it without money, and without price. A strange way of buying, not only without ready money (that is common enough), but without any money, or the promise of any; yet it seems not so strange to those who have observed Christ's counsel to Laodicea, that was wretchedly poor, to come and buy, Rev_3:17, Rev_3:18. Our buying without money intimates, (1.) That the gifts offered us are invaluable and such as no price can be set upon. Wisdom is that which cannot be gotten for gold. (2.) That he who offers them has no need of us, nor of any returns we can make him. He makes us these proposals, not because he has occasion to sell, but because he has a disposition to give. (3.) That the things offered are already bought and paid for. Christ purchased them at the full value, with price, not with money, but with his own blood, 1Pe_1:19. (4.) That we shall be welcome to the benefits of the promise, though we are utterly unworthy of them, and cannot make a tender of any thing that looks like a valuable consideration. We ourselves are not of any value, nor is any thing we have or can do, and we must own it, that, if Christ and heaven be ours, we may see ourselves for ever indebted to free grace.

II. We are earnestly pressed and persuaded (and O that we would be prevailed with!) to accept

this invitation, and make this good bargain for ourselves.

5. JAMISON, “Isa_55:1-13. The call of the gentile world to faith the result of God’s grace to the Jews first.

every one — After the special privileges of Israel (Isa_54:1-17) there follow, as the consequence, the universal invitation to the Gentiles (Luk_24:47; Rom_11:12, Rom_11:15).

Ho — calls the most earnest attention.

thirsteth — has a keen sense of need (Mat_5:6).

waters ... wine and milk — a gradation. Not merely water, which is needed to maintain life at all, but wine and milk to strengthen, cheer, and nourish; the spiritual blessings of the Gospel are meant (Isa_25:6; Son_5:1; Joh_7:37). “Waters,” plural, to denote abundance (Isa_43:20; Isa_44:3).

no money — Yet, in Isa_55:2, it is said, “ye spend money.” A seeming paradox. Ye are really spiritual bankrupts: but thinking yourselves to have money, namely, a devotion of your own making, ye lavish it on that “which is not bread,” that is, on idols, whether literal or spiritual.

buy ... without money — another paradox. We are bought, but not with a price paid by ourselves (1Co_6:20; 1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19). In a different sense we are to “buy” salvation, namely, by parting with everything which comes between us and Christ who has bought it for us and by making it our own (Mat_13:44, Mat_13:46; Luk_12:33; Rev_3:18).

6. K&D, “All things are ready; the guests are invited; and nothing is required of them except to come. “Alas, all ye thirsty ones, come ye to the water; and ye that have no silver, come ye, buy, and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without payment! Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread, and the result of your labour for that which satisfieth not? O hearken ye to me, and eat the good, and let your soul delight itself in fat.” Hitzig and Knobel understand by water, wine, and milk, the rich material blessings which awaited the exiles on their return to their fatherland, whereas they were now paying tribute and performing service inf Babylon without receiving anything in return. But the prophet was acquainted with something higher than either natural water (Isa_54:3, cf., Isa_41:17) or natural wine (Isa_25:6). He knew of an eating and drinking which reached beyond the mere material

enjoyment (Isa_65:13); and the expression וב ה�, whilst it includes material blessings

(Jer_31:12), is not exhausted by them (Isa_63:7, cf., Psa_27:13), just as גהתע�# in Isa_58:14 (cf.,

Psa_37:4, Psa_37:11) does not denote a feeling or worldly, but of spiritual joy. Water, wine, and milk, as the fact that water is placed first clearly shows, are not the produce of the Holy Land, but figurative representations of spiritual revival, recreation, and nourishment (cf., 1Pe_2:2, “the sincere milk of the word”). The whole appeal is framed accordingly. When Jehovah summons the thirsty ones of His people to come to the water, the summons must have reference to something more than the water to which a shepherd leads his flock. And as buying without money or any other medium of exchange is an idea which neutralizes itself in the sphere of natural objects, wine and ilk are here blessings and gifts of divine grace, which are obtained by

grace (χάριτι, gratis), their reception being dependent upon nothing but a sense of need, and a

readiness to accept the blessings offered. Again, the use of the verb שברו, which is confined in other passages to the purchase of cereals, is a sufficient proof that the reference is not to natural objects, but to such objects as could properly be compared to cereals. The bread and other provisions, which Israel obtained in its present state of punishment, are called “not bread,” and “not serving to satisfy,” because that which truly satisfies the soul comes from above, and being of no earthly nature, is to be obtained by those who are the most destitute of earthly supplies. Can any Christian reader fail to recall, when reading the invitation in Isa_55:1, the words of the parable in Mat_22:4, “All things are now ready?” And does not Isa_55:2 equally suggest the

words of Paul in Rom_11:6, “If by grace, then is it no more of works?” Even the exclamation hoi (alas! see Isa_18:1), with which the passage commences, expresses deep sorrow on account of the unsatisfied thirst, and the toilsome labour which affords nothing but seeming satisfaction. The way to true satisfaction is indicated in the words, “Hearken unto me:” it is the way of the obedience of faith. In this way alone can the satisfaction of the soul be obtained.

7. BI, “The cries of the water-carriers

Public messages [Isaiah] would, as a matter of course, deliver publicly in the frequented streets and bazaars, and in khans, and in the temple area, frequently using the common cries of the forerunners of the nobles, the morning call of the temple watchmen, who had been waiting to proclaim the striking of the sun’s first rays upon the pinnacles, the groans of the sabbals (or burden-bearers), the tumult of the buyers and sellers, and the sing-song invitation of the water-carriers, and purveyors of wine and cooling drinks, as his texts,—just such cries and invitations as one may hear to-day in Cairo, Jerusalem, or Damascus. Standing at a street corner he hears a voice, “All ye that arc thirsty, buy my cooling waters, and refresh your hearts,” and he forthwith bursts out with his own competitive cry, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,” etc. (F. Sessions.)

Water, wine and milk

Hitzig, Hendewerk and Knobel understand water, wine and milk as the rich material enjoyments which the exiles have in prospect on returning to their fatherland, whereas they are now paying tribute in Babylon, and rendering personal service to their masters without deriving any benefit therefrom. But the prophet knows of a water even higher than natural water (Isa_44:3; cf. Isa_41:17), and a higher than the natural wine (Isa_25:6); he knows of an eating and drinking surpassing mere material enjoyment (Isa_65:13). As shown by the very fact that water is placed first, water, wine and milk are not the products of the Holy Land, but figures of

spiritual revival, refreshing and nourishment (1Pe_2:2, τ)�λογικ)ν�/δολον�γάλα). (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

God eager for sinners

God would have the attention of sinners; He calls for it. Are not sinners eager for God? Oh, no. It is God who is eager for sinners; and so He calleth Ho! Men pass by with their ears full of the world’s tumult; and God calleth, again and again, “Ho! ho!” (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The Gospel first addressed to human necessity

A great appeal is addressed to those who are athirst. Thus the Lord accommodates His ministry to human necessity. When men are thirsting for water He does not offer them sublime visions of the future, or stately ideas concerning the economies and dominions of time. He would say to men, Let us, in the first place, supply your need; until your thirst is quenched your mind cannot be at rest; until your bodily necessities are supplied your imagination will be unable to exercise itself in high thoughts. The promises of God are addressed to our necessities for more than merely temporary reasons. There is a whole philosophy of government in such appeals. Only at certain points can we profess to understand God, and those points touch our need, our pain, our immediate desire; when we are quite sure that God gives us water for our bodily thirst we may begin at least to feel that there is a possibility that He may not neglect the more burning thirst of the soul. God approaches the spirit through the body. The God who grows corn for our hunger may also have bread for our spirits cry of weakness. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Come! come!

It is “ Come—come.” That is the most familiar word in the Bible! It seems to be a favourite word. The word “Come” occurs six hundred and forty two times in the Bible. It is “Come to the supper;” Come to the waters” “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.” Through all sorrows, through all trials: through all nights of darkness, through all calamities, through all temptations, it rings out, “Come! Come!, Come!” I remember, when I was a boy in the country, being envious of the old sexton who used to lay hold of the bell-rope, and start the bell that shook the meeting-house, calling the people for miles around to prayer. The poorest man, trudging along the turnpike-road, knew that the bell called him just as much as it called the rich farmer riding behind his prancing and capering pair. And so this Gospel bell calls to palaces and to huts, to robes and to rags, saying, “Whosoever will, let him come.” When the sexton had struck one stroke, why did he not wind up the rope and stop? The people had all heard it. But no; he kept on ringing, until, besweated and exhausted, he sat down. When he began to ring there were none present. When he concluded ringing, the roads were full of waggons, and the church door was thronged with people who had come to worship God. And so we must keep on ringing this Gospel bell. Though, perhaps, few may now come, we will keep on ringing, until, after a while, men shall come as clouds, and as “doves to their windows.” (T. De Flirt Talmage, D. D.)

Spiritual Thirst

In a man spiritually athirst there are seven qualities answerable to those in a man naturally athirst.

1. Emptiness.

2. Exquisite sense—a painful sense.

3. Peculiar cares and thoughts. All a man’s thoughts, in such a condition, are for water to cool and refresh him (Act_2:37,

16:30).

4. Impatience (Exo_17:3).

5. Vehemeney of desire.

6. Diligent endeavour.

7. Constant languishing. Delay doth but increase the thirst the more. Nothing will put an end to spiritual thirst but Jesus Christ. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

The Jews in exile prosperous yet thirsting

Who are these thirsty souls, panting for a satisfaction which they have not yet found? They are the people of the hill country, now exiled to the plains. They have been bereft of the companionable apocalypse of the heights, and they are now immured in the unsuggestive monotony of the plains. I do not think you will find a single helpful figure in the entire Bible borrowed from the plains. The plains lie prone as a speechless sphinx. The hill country is full of voices, loud in their intimations, prodigal in revelations. Its phenomena are the messengers of the infinite. There towers the rugged height, firm and immovable, standing sure and steadfast through the fickle and varied years. What is its suggestion? “ Thy righteousness is like the great mountains.” Yonder come the treasure-laden clouds, driving in from the great deep. They unburden their wealth upon the shoulders of Carmel, clothing it with a garment of rare and luxuriant beauty. What is their significance? “Thy mercy reached even unto the clouds.” Here, on these bare, basaltic heights the tired and heated traveller rests in the cool and healing shadow

of a friendly rock. What is the speech of the shadow “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” In the hill country all things are but the vestures and vehicles of larger things of spiritual import. The light, soft wind that stirs and breathes in the dawn—it is God who rides upon a cherub, yea, who “flies upon the wings of the wind.” The gentle, mollifying rain falling upon the parched, bruised, broken stems of grass: “He shall come down like rain-upon the mown grass.” The end of the drought; the unsealing of the springs among the hills; the gladsome sound of the river as it laughs and dances down the bare and rocky gorge: what is its significance? “Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. ‘ It was an expressive, voiceful, suggestive land. Its features interpreted the face and character of God. Land and people were in communion, and their intercourse concerned the nearness and the favour and the providence of the Lord of hosts. But now the land and the people are divorced. The people are borne away into captivity. They leave the hill-country, so rich in interpreting speech, and they pass into the speechless monotony of the plains. Their environment is dumb. Their dwelling-place is no longer a sacrament: it is common, insignificant, speechless. They have passed from nature to art, and from art to artifice. They have left the shepherd and have met the merchant. They have left the work of the labourers in pastures and dressers of vineyards for a swift and feverish civilization. Now, take the people of the bracing, speaking, hill country, and immure them in this sweltering and superficial plain. In all the crowded interests by which they are engirt there is nothing suggestive of God. There was grandeur, but the grandeur had no voice. It was grandeur without revelation, and grandeur without revelation is never creative of awe. Where there is no awe, men step with flippant tread. The exile felt the glamour, felt the power of the grandeur, but in the glamour and grandeur forgot his God. His vision was more and more horizontal, and less and less vertical. Ambition waxed feverish, and aspiration waxed faint. The spirit of the conqueror infected the captive. The babble of Babylon entered into Israel. Success was enthroned in place of holiness, and the soul bowed down and worshipped it. The exile embraced the world, and shut out the infinite. Now, what was the issue of that Y The exile made money. His body revelled in conditions of ease. His carnal appetites delighted themselves in fatness. He climbed into positions of eminence and power. What else? “In the fulness of his sufficiency he was in straits.’ The body luxuriated; the soul languished. He drenched the body with comforts; but he couldn’t appease its tenant. “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up, eat, drink, and be merry! And still the soul cried out, “I thirst,” and disturbed him like an unquiet ghost, he spent money and more money, but was never able to buy the appropriate bread. He plunged into increased labours, but his labours reaped only that “which satisfied not.” The body toiled, the brain schemed, the eyes coveted, and still the soul cried out, “I thirst. Now, when there sits in the soul a hungry unrest and a feverish thirst, life will drop into faintness, weariness and despair. All things become stale, flat, and unprofitable. We “spend our money for that which is not bread, and we labour for that which satisfieth not.’ “All is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

The true imperialism

Has this no pertinency for our own day? Acquisition and expansion are the primary notes of modern life. And is there no thirst, no disquietude of spirit? Our novels and our poetry are full of the drooping leaf. Behind the droop there is the thirst. The literature only reflects the people. Business circles never abounded as they do to-day in faint and weary men. They get and spend, and spend and get, but through it all persists the inward thirst. England is thirsting for life. What we need is the infinitely gracious ministry of the Eternal Son of God. “He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”

I. There is to be THE DISCIPLINE OF THE EAR. There is to be a determined, resolute effort to listen to God. When I turn over the pages of the New Testament, and the Old Testament as well,

I am greatly surprised at the emphasis with which is given the injunction to hear. “ Hear, ye deaf. Every page sends out the cry of the herald—Hearken, listen, incline your ear. It is wonderful how often the Master repeated the injunction, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” That is not a kind of mild, kindly counsel, but an urgent, strenuous appeal to men and women in imminent peril. As though they were disinclined, or did it lazily and easily. He seems to say, Put work into hearing, make it a business, put some intenseness into it. The voices of the world are so clamorous, so fascinating, so easily enticing, that you are in great danger of being allured unless you set yourself resolutely to attend to God. “Hearken diligently unto Me;” put work into listening to Me, in the Parliament, in the Council House, on the Exchange, in the shop and the warehouse, and in the pulpit. There are many clamorous voices around you, those of Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Mr. Pliable, Mr. Time-Server, Mr. Love-of-the-World. Then pull yourself together, says the Master and the prophet; engage yourself with such intenseness amidst all the bustling clamour, that you may catch the upward calling of your God.

II. The discipline of the ear is accompanied by THE DISCIPLINE OF THE HEART. Listen and then yield. “Let the wicked forsake his way (and then something infinitely harder), “and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” I find it a comparatively easy thing to forsake a way; but I find it almost insuperably difficult to forsake a thought. Hear the Highest and then uncompromisingly obey. You say impossible! Idleness creates the impossible, says Robert South. I think perhaps one of the great needs of our time in personal and national life, is that some nation should resolutely address itself to listen to the voice of God, and when she has resolutely listened and confidently heard, then to resolutely and deliberately attempt the impossible. Let her begin by forsaking her own wicked ways. Let her hearken diligently to the Divine voice and then definitely and unwaveringly follow in pursuit, even though the way lead apparently to an impassable height. Let her return to the Lord, and let there be no longer a democracy, an aristocracy, a plutocracy, but a Theocracy willing gladly to be counselled by Jehovah.

III. “WHAT IS THE ISSUE OF THIS OBEDIENCE? Suppose the thirsty nation oppressed, turned herself to listen to Jehovah and began to interpret the voice Divine, and suppose she addressed herself with all the majesty of Divine power to the pursuit of the ideal discerned, what would happen? The issue of-such a demeanour is portrayed for us with wonderful prodigality in the chapter.

1. There is the assured promise of fuller life. “Hear, and your soul shall live.” Hitherto life had been a thin existence, a mere surface glittering, a superficial movement. Now there shall be vitality, awakening and stirring in undreamed-of depths. Life shall be no longer confined to the channels of the appetites; life shall no longer be a mere matter of senses and sensations confined to the outer courts and corridors of the life, but you shall begin to live in the innermost self. The unused shall be aroused and exercised;, the unevolved shall be unpacked; benumbed instincts shall be liberated; buried powers of discernment shall come trooping from the grave; new intelligence shall be born, and the sea of iniquity shall ebb, and the sea shall give up its dead. Life shall be no longer scant and scrimpy. You shall delight yourself, not in leanness but in fatness, every tissue of yourself shall be fed, and the outer life shall bear all manner of fruit, and the leaves of the tree shall be for the healing of the nations.

2. Mark the succession, and we get an exceedingly pregnant suggestion. We have got a nation listening, we have got a nation doing, we have got a nation now living, with its powers evolved, and in active exercise. What next? “Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not.” What is that’? It means that a true and glorified national life is to be followed by a true and glorified imperialism. “Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God.’ That is the true imperialism—empire by moral and spiritual sovereignty, allurement of dominion by the fascinating radiance of a pure and satisfied life.

“Gentiles shall come to the light, and kings to the brightness of the rising.” It is empire not merely by the aid of Maxim guns, but by great heartening: Gospels proclaimed by a great redeemed, glorified people. This is to be the shining goal of true national ambition. The mission of the great people, according to this chapter, is to be this: We are to be witnesses to the people, leaders and commanders of the people, witnesses ceaselessly reiterating the truths of the heartening Gospel, proving in the power of our own redemption our fitness to be leaders of the people, going out as path-finders amongst the benighted peoples. “They shall be called” (I want no more glorious title for the country) “the restorer of paths to dwell in.”

3. Now, mark further the issue. A true imperialism, I will not say is to be succeeded, but is to be accompanied by a splendid magnanimity. When the nation has hearkened diligently unto God, and follows determinedly in the pursuit of His will, all little-mindedness has to pass away in the great spacious ambitions. The pure and the exalted people are to share the spacious thought of God, and this I take to be the meaning of the word, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” “What are Thy thoughts like?” “As the heavens are higher than the earth. God’s thoughts are lofty, spacious, broad; so our thoughts must be comprehensive, full of an all-inclusive sympathy which vibrates to the interest of each, as though each contained the welfare of the other. The truly imperial people are to share this largeness of idea and ideal and all inclusive sympathy. All parochial peddling and sterile individualism shall yield to a pregnant altruism, and mean patriotism is to be supplanted by a generous fructifying cosmopolitanism. The annexation of territory will be regarded as infinitely inferior to the salvation of the world. Influence shall not be measured by mileage, but by magnanimity. Empire will not be computed by so many leagues of earth, but by the multitude of redeemed and liberated souls. And the outskirts of sovereignty will not be contained by bristling guns, but “They shall call her walls salvation and her gates praise.”

4. We have an exalted, glorified empire, and according to this prophet, there is to be nothing wavering or uncertain about the moral empire of such a people. For them a help-giving ministry,, will be inevitable. “As the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, etc. The rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, the bringers of the spring time; and the nation truly imperial, and filled with the living Spirit of the living God, shall be the spring-time maker amongst the children of men, and the creator of gladness and music and song. The prophet himself bursts into song: “The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” That is to be the ministry of the nation. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree.” The thorn with the sharp-piercing, pain-giving spikes: instead of that shall come up the fir tree—from which were made the musical instruments, and especially the framework of the harp; “instead of the thorn, the pain-making thing, shall come up the fir tree,” the music-making thing; the glorified people shall move among the scattered peoples, and shall exercise the beautiful ministry of changing the creators of pain into the makers of melody and praise. “Instead of the briar,” with its bitter, poisonous sting, “shall come up the myrtle tree, with its glossy leaves, and white flowers and grateful perfume. The redeemed and consecrated nation shall exult in a missionary enterprise which shall change the poisonous enmities and jealousies of the people into the perfume of sweet and gracious sentiments, and the chastened delights of a holy and blameless life. Is not this an ambition worthy of the English people of our own day? (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)

The gracious invitation

I. THE INVITATION ITSELF.

1. The universality of the offer.

2. The freeness of the gift. “He that hath no money ‘—he that is in spiritual bankruptcy.

3. The fulness of the blessings which this salvation contains. They are represented by the three terms, water, wine and milk.

II. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION. These are manifold and various.

1. There is, the contrast between the blessings offered and those for which men are now so laboriously toiling.

2. The character of Him through whom the blessings are to be obtained.

3. The present nearness of God to us and His abundant willingness to pardon.

4. The fact that God’s “ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts.” He pardons like a God.

5. God’s Word “shall not return unto Him void. There is profound encouragement in the thought that back of these agencies of the Gospel, which seem so weak as compared with those powers of depravity in the soul with which they must contend, lies the changeless purpose of Him who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

6. The profound interest felt by all holy beings everywhere in the salvation of the sinner. That profound sympathy with man in his efforts for salvation which our Lord so beautifully represents by the joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, the inspired prophet; here represents by the joy of inanimate nature over this return of the sinner to Him who is the Fountain of life.

7. The beneficent results of the acceptance of this invitation. “Instead of the thorn,” etc. Divine grace works a complete transformation in the heart into which it comes. It roots out the thorns and briars of selfishness, of pride, of avarice, of unbelief and every hurtful lust. It implants in their room all the graces that adorn the Christian character. (T. D.Witherspoon, D. D.)

Gospel invitation without restriction

Man may erect his barriers around that fountain, God erects none. It is not, Come by laboured preparation—by penance and fasting, by pilgrimage and mortification, It is not, “Come”—but you must come by dogma and rubric, by sect and shibboleth.Neither is it, “Come”—but you must come with some golden or jewelled bucket to fetch up the water; you must come like Naaman of old, laden with, costly offerings, talents of silver and gold, and changes of raiment. But, “Come, just as you are, without money and without price;” without distinction, whether natural or spiritual, of class or rank or caste, birth or blood or pedigree. “Come,” though you may have but an earthen pitcher to draw with; “come,” though you can only lave up the water in the rough palm of your hands. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)

“Come to the waters”

The Lord even thirsteth to be thirsted after. (J. Trapp.)

Man’s misery and God’s call

I. SIN IS MISERY, FAILURE, KEEN AND URGENT WANT. Isaiah draws a picture which Orientals would appreciate far more vividly than we, whose utmost pain from thirst only means that on some holiday excursion we have felt the heat inconvenient, and have not; happened immediately upon a fountain. He speaks, not of one thirsty man, but of a number, evidently a caravan of travellers. No one who heard him would fail to think of the burnt and sandy plains, a little to the south, on which sometimes a whole company of travellers might wander from their way, and exhaust their provisions, and grow feeble and gaunt and desperate. The hot breeze whirls the burning sand around them. The simoom wind wails in the distance. Phantom waters gleam with a cruel mockery on this side or that. Their own fever creates illusions which distract them. The skeletons of others, lost like themselves, glare upon them. Their steps are feeble, and their tongues cleave to their mouths, when suddenly all that they could not find finds them, and a glad voice calls, “He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters! This fountain is deep enough for all, and here, in our tents, is Oriental hospitality besides; buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Our own countrymen, exploring the deserts of Australia even now, would understand it well. Many a brave man has sunk down there and died.. One band of early explorers survived to tell how in their extremity they climbed a hill and saw below them a rolling water, right into which with one consent; they rushed, and eagerly drank, only to find that it was salt as brine. O mockery, like the mockery of earthly pleasure when the heart is athirst!

II. GOD CALLS THE DISAPPOINTED, the fevered, the men and women who have found the world desolate and dry; whose very wishes give them not their wish, who succeed perhaps, and are all the more unhappy because they know that success also is vanity; whose affection prospers, only to teach them that, after all, there are depths in every heart which resound to no human voice. You may not as yet feel any more than this burning, secret want; but this is enough, if only it leads you to the fountain. Does not the very word “come” imply the leaving of something, as well as approach to something else? And this purchasing is not entirely defined in the words, “Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,” for much more than sin must be surrendered. St. Paul tells us of the price he himself paid when, having reckoned up his advantages, and how, as touching the righteousness that is by the law, he was blameless, he adds, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ,” etc. Yes, for Christ. For it is He who interprets this verse of Himself, though it is plainly spoken of Jehovah. He, on the great day of the feast, stood and cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” Here, then, is the one test of earnestness: Will you, at the bidding of your God, renounce what has failed to quench your thirst, for the sake of the waters of life? (G.A. Chadwick, D.D.)

The great proclamation

I. TO WHOM THIS OFFER IS MAKE. It is to every one thirsty and penniless. That is a melancholy combination, to be needing something infinitely, and to have not a farthing to get it with. But that is the condition in which we all stand, in regard of the highest and best things.

1. “Every one that thirsteth.” That means desire. But it means need also. And what is every man but a great bundle of yearnings and necessities? There are thirsts which infallibly point to their true objects. If a man is hungry, he knows that it is food that he wants. We have social instincts; we need love; we need friendship; we need somebody to lean upon; we thirst for some breast to rest our heads upon, for hands to clasp ours; and we know where the creatures and the objects are that will satisfy these desires. And there are higher thirsts of the spirit, and a man knows where and how to gratify the impulse that drives him to seek

aider some forms of knowledge and wisdom. But besides all these there come in a whole set of other thirsts that do not in themselves carry the intimation of the place where they can be slaked. And so you get men restless, dissatisfied, feeling that there is something wanting, yet not knowing what. You remember the old story in the “Arabian Nights,” of the man who had a grand palace, and lived in it quite contentedly, until somebody told him that he needed a roc’s egg hanging from the roof to make it complete, and he did not know where to get that, and was miserable accordingly. We build our houses, we fancy that we are satisfied; and then there comes the stinging thought that it is not all complete yet, and we go groping in the dark, to find out what it is. Do you know what it is that you want? It is God! Nothing else, nothing less. There are dormant thirsts. It is no proof of superiority that a savage has fewer wants than you and I have, for the want is the open mouth into which supply comes. And it is no proof that you have not, deep in your nature, desires which unless they are awakened and settled, you will never be blessed, that these desires are all unconscious to yourselves. And yet there are no desires—that is to say, consciousness of necessities—so dormant but that their being ungratified makes a man restless. You do not want forgiveness, but you will never be happy till you get it. You do not want to be good and true and holy men, but you will never be blessed till you are. You do not want God, but you will be restless till you find Him.

2. “And he that hath no money.” Who has any? Notice that the persons represented in our text as penniless are, in the next verse, remonstrated with for spending “money.” So then the penniless man had some pence away in some corner of his pocket which he could spend. He had the money that would buy shams, “that which is not bread,” but he had no money for the true thing. Which, being translated out of parable into fact, is simply this, that our efforts may win, and do win, for us the lower satisfactions which meet the transitory and superficial necessities, but that no effort of ours can secure for us the loftier blessings which slake the diviner thirsts of immortal souls.

II. IN WHAT IT CONSISTS. They tell an old story about the rejoicings at the coronation of some great king, when there was set up in the market-place a triple fountain, from each of whose three lips flowed a different kind of rare liquor which any man who chose to bring a pitcher might fill from, at his choice. Notice my text, “come ye to the waters”. . . “buy wine and milk. The great fountain is set up in the market-place of the world, and every man may come; and whichever of this glorious trinity of effluents he needs most, there his lip ,may glue itself and there it may drink, be it “water that refreshes, or “wine that gladdens, or “milk” that nourishes. They are all contained in this one great gift that flows out from the deep heart of God to the thirsty lips of parched humanity. And what does that mean? We may say salvation; or we may use many other words to define the nature of the gifts. I venture to take a shorter one, and say, it means Christ. He is the all-sufficient supply of every thirst of every human soul.

III. HOW DO WE GET THE GIFTS? The paradox of’ my text needs little explanation. “Buy without money and without price.’ The contradiction on the surface is but intended to make emphatic this blessed truth theft the only conditions are a sense of need and a willingness to take—nothing else and nothing more. (A. Mallard, D. D.)

Soul thirst

Men know what bodily hunger is, some have felt it to an agony, but there is a soul hunger far more distressing than this. It is depicted on the countenances of those whose bodies fare sumptuously every day. Men also know what bodily thirst is. But there is a soul thirst infinitely worse than that which was ever felt by the most parched of Oriental travellers. That all unregenerate souls are thirsting, with more or less intensity, for that which they have not, will

neither be debated nor denied. Christianity is a provision for such, and as a provision it is marked by three things.

I. IT IS EFFICACIOUS. It is “water.” The Gospel is to the thirsty soul what the cool refreshing stream is to a thirsty body. It satisfies—

1. The guilty conscience,

2. The longing heart,

3. The worshipping spirit of man. All who have truly received the Gospel give this testimony.

II. IT IS GRATUITOUS. “Without money and without price.” Water is one of the freest things in the world. It is a ubiquitous element; it not only floats in the cloud, descends in the showers, and rolls in the rivers, but bubbles up at our feet and oozes out in all the things around us.

III. IT IS UNRESTRICTED. “Ho, every one that thirsteth.” The Gospel is not for any type of mind, any class of character, any condition of society, any tribe of men. Like the light of heaven, it is for all. (Homilist.)

The spiritual appetite and its gratification

I. The spiritual appetite.

1. It results from the constitution of our nature. We cannot go deeper than nature. We cannot go behind or beyond it, for nature is what has been born (Latin natura), born out of God’s thought by God’s power. When we speak of nature we must pass in thought from her to her parent God, and find a sufficient answer to all questions and difficulties by saying: “God has so willed it, therefore it is as it is.” All the strong basal instincts of human nature must be traced back to the make of our moral being as it was planned by almighty wisdom, and wrought by infinite power. We hunger and thirst, because our physical nature has been so created that it must needs go out of itself for its supplies of nutriment. Similarly, God made our souls for Himself. Deep within us, lie has put necessities and desires, that crave for satisfaction from the Unseen, Eterual, and Divine.

2. It produces pain. There are many sources of pain; but perhaps primarily God has instituted it to compel us to take measures for our health and salvation. The pain of hunger and thirst in designed to force us to take food, without which the body would become exhausted and die. So, in the moral sphere, we should be thankful when we are discontented with ourselves, when in self-abhorrence we cry out for God’s unsullied righteousness, when we go about smitten with infinite unrest.

3. It is universal. As we have never met man or woman incapable of hunger or thirst, so there is no human soul which is not capable of possessing God, and does not need Him for a complete life. Often the spiritual appetite is dormant. The invalid, who has long suffered under the pressure of a wasting illness, may have no appetite, but at any moment it may awake. Thus with the hunger of the soul for God.

II. THE NURTURE OF SPIRITUAL APPETITE.

III. THE CERTAIN GRATIFICATION OF THIS APPETITE. God never sends mouths, the old proverb says, but He sends with them the food to fill them. Young lions never seek that which His hand does not open to give. The fish, and the fly at which it snatches; the bird, and the berries on the hawthorn bush; the babe, and the milk stored in its mother’s breast, are perfectly adapted to each other. Whatever you and I have longed for in our best and holiest moments may have its consummation and bliss, because God has prepared for our perfect satisfaction. (Lira of

Faith.)

A gracious invitation

I. THE STATE OF THE PERSONS ADDRESSED. II. THE NATURE OF THE PROVISION PREPARED.

III. THE FORCE OF THE INVITATION OFFERED. What is it to corals? coming signifies believing. Observe how this invitation is reiterated. It corrals in with a shout; then it is plainly stated—then it is repeated—and a third time it is urged.

1. Let the extent of the call induce you to come.

2. Let the freeness of the supply induce you to come.

3. Let the sufficiency of the provision induce you to come.

4. Let the impossibility of finding redemption elsewhere induce you to come.

Conclusion:

1. Some of you have heard in a spirit of levity.

2. Some in a spirit of neglect.

3. Some in a spirit of doubt and despondency. (J. Parsons.)

Water for the thirsty

I. WHAT THESE WATERS ARE WHICH ARE PROVIDED FOR THIRSTY SINNERS.

II. EVERY THIRSTY SINNER MAY AND OUGHT TO COME TO THEM. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

True satisfaction in Christ

There are eight things which thirsty sinners should set together.

1. All their sins and Christ’s merits.

2. All their distresses and Christ’s compassions,

3. All their wants and Christ’s fulness.

4. All their unworthiness and Christ’s fresness.

5. Their desires and Christ’s invitations.

6. Their thirstings and the promises of Christ.

7. Their own weakness and Christ’s strength.

8. Satan’s objections and Christ’s answers. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

The best bargain

Dr. Faustus was very dear to legend in the Middle Ages. He burned with desire to drink his fill of all the pleasures of this life; but he could not gain them by his own unaided skill. He therefore

made a contract with Satan. It was drawn out in the most lawyer-like style, and Faustus signed it with his own blood. It was stipulated that during the next twenty years he should have the run of all earth’s pleasures, and then his soul and body were to be given over to Satan. He began with the sweets of knowledge, but soon he forsook them in disgust, and plunged into the fiercer and coarser excitements of the senses. Amid many horrors the body and soul of Faustus were seized by Satan just as the clock struck twelve at night on the last day of the specified period. These legends hold some of the most solemn secrets of life. They teach that every man has a soul to dispose of; that men, like the fallen angels, may ruin themselves with their eyes open; and that the greatest transactions of the soul may be likened to buying and bargaining.

I. WHEN I BUY, I DESIRE. And I desire what I must fetch from without. Were I entirely self-supporting, had I everything I, need “within myself,” as the saying is, I should never go to any market. Isaiah’s words for “buy” means to buy provisions. Lost in the desert, parched by thirst, gnawed by hunger, duped by the mirage, ready to perish—that is the standing biblical picture of a sinful man when he realizes his soul’s needs. It is he who is urged to come to the waters, and to buy wine and milk. “But I have no heart, no desire for these things: what am I to do?” That is the great trouble; indifference or downright indolence of soul the most common obstacle. But God’s appeal is, “Come now, and let us reason together.” He sets forth the alternatives as to a reasonable being. Water, wine, milk, good, fatness, life, covenant-mercy—all these are freely offered instead of starvation and death. How unreasonable you must be if anything on earth can keep you from what you know to be your highest good!

II. WHEN I BUY, I CHOOSE The essence of a bargain is an act of choice. Choose I the Bible keeps that word ever ringing in our ears. And so does profane literature. Hercules, the greatest hero of heathendom, was made by his deliberate choice of virtue and rejection of vice. Pythagoras put this great truth into one of the most popular of object-lessons. He compared life to the letter y. The parting of the ways is symbolized by the two limbs of the letter. A man must go forward; and he must go left or right; he must walk in the way of evil or in the way of good. This choosing is the biggest thing you can do in this world. When I buy I consent to the price. Buying is simply avowed consent in action. “Come buy . . . without money and without price.” By this double phrase the prophet assails the deep-seated self-righteousness of the heat. And he assails it wit’s its own favourite ideas and phrases. You will buy. Well, then, let him buy who has no money, and let him buy without money and without price. Buying has a legal suggestion; but buying without money more than neutralizes every such suggestion. The most capacious mind, the liveliest imagination, could not suggest a more effective way of setting forth the utter freeness of Gods grace.

III. WHAT I BUY, I OWN. The Gospel is here staten in the language of the market-place, so that all may perfectly understand it. All just laws and our moral instincts make me the undoubted possessor of that which I have fairly bought and paid for. It is my very own. This buying is all you need. The goods are yours in offer; and they are yours in full possession n you accept them.

IV. WHAT I BUY, I USE. Unused milk and flesh are of no value to me. The bread of life, which Christ is and offers, is ours only in so far as we appropriate and assimilate it. “Buy and eat. The buying is useless without the eating. Eating is the most vital, personal, and experimental thing in the world. The bread eaten becomes part and parcel of myself. (Monthly Visitor.)

The proclamation and expostulation of mercy

I. THE PROCLAMATION OF MERCY.

1. The blessings offered.

(1) “Waters.” Men need cleansing and refreshing. The word is “waters,” not water. Some waters are good for domestic purposes only, others for medicinal purposes, and others again for purposes of cleansing. Thus, the water that may be suitable for one purpose may be unsuitable for other purposes. Not so the blessings of the Gospel; not so Christ, who is the Gospel. He meets all the needs of the soul. He pleases the imagination, satisfies the affections, calms the conscience, purifies the heart.

(2) “Wine.” Christ is like wine, in that He gladdens the heart. He is unlike wine in this—while we may have too much wine, we can never have too much of Christ.

(3) “Milk.” Milk is nourishing food; milk is natural food. A taste for milk is possibly the only taste we have by nature. All our other likings are more or less acquired. But, we refuse Christ, because what we popularly can a state of nature, is not a state of nature. To live naturally we must feed naturally. He only, so lives who feeds on Christ.

2. The terms propounded.

(1) We must “thirst” for Christ. We shall be blessed as soon as we wish to be. We are welcome to Christ when He is welcome to us.

(2) We must come to Christ.

II. THE GLORIOUS RESULTS which accrue from compliance with these conditions. Men are invited to buy, etc., so, of those who comply it may be said—

1. They “buy” soul-food, i.e they appropriate as verily their own the blessings purchased by Christ.

2. They “eat,” i.e they have experimental knowledge of Christianity.

3. Their soul “delights itself in fatness.” The more of Christ men have, the more they desire

III. THE LORD’S GRACIOUS EXPOSTULATION. It is an appeal to their reason and their experience. God knows what man is, and what he feels. It is as if God had said: “I know your case entirely; you are toiling for happiness and toiling in vain, and you know it. You are always pursuing some ideal good, with which, when you get it, you are satiated. Why go on thus, when peace and rest may be had? The argument used by God teaches that sin is—

1. Costly. “Wherefore do ye spend money, etc. Sin is costly.”—

(1) A pecuniary sense.

(2) A mental sense.

(3) A moral sense.

(4) A spiritual sense. It costs money, health, mental quiet, character, heaven.

2. Laborious.

(1) Men labour to accomplish their evil purposes.

(2) Men labour to conceal their evil deeds, etc.

3. Unsatisfying. (J. S. Swan.)

Invitation; expostulation; entreaty

I. AN EVANGELICAL INVITATION. “Come ye.”

1. The persons invited.

2. The matter of the invitation. Jesus Christ is an only good, and He is an universal good. “Waters; bread; milk; wine.”

3. The manner of the invitation.

(1) Earnest. “Ho!”

(2) Serious. “Come, come, come; buy, buy.”

(3) General. “Every one.”

(4) Gracious. “Buy wine and milk, without money and without price.”

There is much good to be had, and at a very easy rate. Jesus Christ, and the things of Christ, are above price and without price.

II. A COMPLAINING EXPOSTULATION. “Wherefore,” etc. Here we have charged on sinners—

1. Their neglect.

2. Their folly.

III. A RENEWED SOLICITATION OR ENTREATY. How patient is God, even to sinners who neglect the offers of His grace! This renewed entreaty is—

1. Very vehement. “Hearken diligently; incline your ears; hear.”

2. Very persuasive.

3. Very satisfactory. “I will make an everlasting covenant with you,” etc.

“I will give My bond for it; all this shall be as surely made good as the mercies which I performed to My servant, David.” (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Food a supreme need

What does the hungry man want? Money? Not at all. Fame? No. Good clothes? Not a bit. He wants food. What does the thirsty man want? Reputation? Bonds and stocks? No! He wants water. When we are dead in earnest, and want the bread of heaven and the water of life, we shall not stop till we get them. (Sunday School Chronicle.)

He that hath no money; come ye, buy, and sat

Buying without money

We have before us the figure of a merchant selling his wares, and crying like a chapman in the market, “He!” To attract attention he calls aloud, “Come! Come! Come!” three several times; and he adds to this the cry of “Buy! Buy!” Shall the Great King thus liken Himself to a trader in the market earnest to dispose of his goods? It is even so, and I therefore call upon you to admire the mercy of the Lord. In the fifty-third and fifty-fourth chapters this Divine Merchantman has been spreading out His wares. What treasures they are!

I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE BUYER. It is the portrait of a poor, penniless, broken-down creature reduced to the extremity of want: “He that hath no money. Of course, by this is meant the man who literally has no money. Having nothing, you may yet possess all things. But we understand the reference of the text to be mainly spiritual, and so the portrait here is that of a man who has no spiritual money, no gold of goodness, no silver of sanctity.

1. His fancied stock of natural innocence is spent.

2. He thought that he had accumulated some little savings of good works; but his imaginary righteousness turns out to be counterfeit.

3. He is in a still worse plight, for he is also too poor to get anything; the procuring power is gone, for he has “no money “ that is to say, nothing wherewith he can procure those good things which are necessary to salvation and eternal life.

4. Moreover, his stock with which to trade is gone. Money makes money, and he that has a little to begin with may soon have more; but this man, having no stock to start with, cannot hope to be rich towards God in and by himself. No money!

(1) Then, he cannot pay his old debts. His sins rise up before him, but he cannot make amends for them.

(2) Moreover, he cannot meet his present expenses.

(3) He cannot face the future.

(4) The only hope for a man who has no money must he outside himself.

II. THE SELECTION OF THE BUYER. It is a strange choice, and it leads to a singular invitation, “He that hath no money; come, buy, and eat.” What is the reason?

1. These need mercy most.

2. This character is chosen because he is such a one as will exhibit in his own person the power of Divine grace.

3. The Lord Jesus delights to make evident the freeness of His grace.

4. He is the kind of man that will listen. A wretched sinner jumps at mercy like a hungry fish leaping at the bait.

5. Such an empty, penniless soul, when he does get mercy, will prize it and praise it. He that has been shut up in the dark for years values the light of the sun. He that has been a prisoner for months, how happy he is when the prison doors are opened, and he is at liberty again! Let a man once get Christ, who has bitterly known and felt his need of Him, and he will prize Him beyond all things.

III. THE INVITATION. The man who has no money is to come, buy, and eat. It looks odd to tell a penniless man to come and buy, does it not? and yet what other word could be used? Come and buy, has a meaning of its own not to be otherwise expressed. In buying there are three or four stages.

1. Desiring to have the thing which is exhibited.

2. This means next, to agree to terms.

3. When the terms are carried out, the buyer appropriates the goods to himself.

4. But the text says, “Buy, and eat, as much as to say, make it yours in the most complete sense. If a man buys a loaf of bread it is his: but if he eats it, then all the lawyers in the world cannot dispute him out of it—he has it by a possession which is not only nine points of the law, but all the law. Christ fed upon IS ours beyond all question.

IV. By way of ASSURANCE, to show that this is all real and true, and no make-believe.

1. It is not God’s way to mock men. He hath Himself declared, “ I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye My face in vain.”

2. God is under no necessity to sell His benefits. He is not impoverished: He is so rich that none can add anything to His wealth.

3. There is no adequate price that we could bring to God for His mercy.

4. Remember that Jesus must be meant for sinners, for if sinners had not existed there never would have been a saviour.

5. It must be true that God will give these blessings to men who have no merits, and will bestow them as gifts, because Jesus Himself is a gift.

6. Beside that, Christ is all.

7. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is blessedly free from all clogging conditions, because all supposed conditions are supplied in Christ Jesus. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Gospel blessings to be bought

You may have seen persons in a shop who, when they have been shown almost all the contents of the shop,—when article after article has been brought down from the shelves for their inspection, have at last, to the no small disappointment of the shopkeeper, gone out without buying anything. And we who have the Gospel wares to dispose of, are subject to like disappointments. We also have customers who, when they have looked at, and turned over, so to speak, again and again, the goods which we offer them, as though they would make an offer for them, content themselves with the looking at them, hear and listen to the Gospel, that you would think they were going to embrace it, yet go out of Church, ah! and out of the world, without embracing it. (W. Cleaves, M. A.)

Buyers will show that they possess

It will be seen whether we have been indeed buyers, or like those who content themselves with looking at what is to be sold without buying. If a man has been buying clothes, for instance, he will be seen wearing the clothes; if he has been buying cattle, he will stock his land with the cattle; if he has been buying provisions, his table will be supplied with the provisions; if he has been buying furniture, his house will be furnished with it; and if we have been buying of Christ, the heart and mind will be furnished, we shall be clothed, we shall be adorned with what Christ has for those who buy of Him. (W. Cleaves, M. A.)

The fulness of Christ offered to the needy sinner

1. In Christ there is very good fare to be had for poor sinners.

2. The enjoyment of it is limited by their coming to Christ and buying of Him.

3. Upon their coming to Christ all that good doth certainly come to them. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Willingness to buy of Christ

He that is willing to buy—

1. Will go to the market.

2. Doth like the wares which are to be bought.

3. Will come up to the price at which they are to be bought.

4. Will watch the time, and take the time of buying.

5. Is willing to sell that he may compass the things he is very desirous to buy (Gen_47:17-19; Mat_13:44).

There are three “alls” which a poor sinner is willing to sell that he may have Christ.

(1) All his sinful lusts and his former sinful courses of life.

(2) All his worldly estimations and advantages (Heb_11:24-26).

(3) All his serf. His serf-wisdom, his serf-will, his serf-righteousness, his self-sufficiencies and his serf-confidence, his self-seekings and his self-advantages (Php_3:8). (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Buying of Christ

You may know that you have indeed bought of Christ by something in yourselves.

1. Your hearts will be much endeared to Christ for what He hath sold unto you.

2. You will spend what you have bought of Christ, upon Christ.

3. You will so like the bargain that Christ shall have your custom as long as you live.

4. You will not sell what you have bought. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Driving a trade with Christ

There are seven arguments to persuade poor sinners to come and buy of Christ.

I. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE WARES.

II. THE NECESSITY OF THE PURCHASE.

III. THE GOODNESS OF THE SELLER.

IV. THE EASINESS OF THE PRICE.

V. THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE MARKET.

VI. THE BENEFIT OF THE BARGAIN.

VII. THE LOSS BY NEGLECT.( O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

The benefit of trading with Christ

By buying of Christ you gain—

1. Losses. It is no gain to lose a soul, yet it is an exceeding gain for a soul to lose some things—the dominion of sin, the love of sin, a condemning conscience, our corrupt vices, etc.

2. Yourselves. We never come to enjoy ourselves until we come to enjoy Christ.

3. Your own souls—they are safe and secured for ever.

4. All. All the purchase of Christ, all the good of all the offers of Christ, all the fruits of the Spirit of Christ, all the promises of God in Christ, all the revealings of the ordinances of Christ, all the immunities and privileges of Christ, all the hopes by Christ. You gain all the good which concerns soul and body in this life, and all the good which concerns them in the life to come. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Spiritual merchandise

Those who have bought of Christ are—

I. THE WISEST MERCHANTS.

II. THE SUREST POSSESSORS. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

“Buy and eat:”

It is a virtue here to be a holy glutton. (J. Trapp.)

Yea, come, buy wins and milk

Wine and milk

As water, on account of its commonness and abundance, is often apt to be despised, the prophet farther speaks of the blessings of salvation under the symbols of wine and milk. (R. Jones, M. A.)

A free salvation

I. I have to preach WINE AND MILK. The Gospel is like wine which makes us glad. Let a man truly know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be a happy man, and the deeper he drinks into the spirit of Christ, the more happy will he become. The Gospel is like milk too, for there is everything in it that you want, Do you want something to bear you up in trouble? It is in the Gospel—“a very present help in time of trouble.” Do you need something to nerve you for duty? There is grace all-sufficient for everything that God calls you to undergo or to accomplish. Do you need something to light up the eye of your hope? There are joy-flashes in the Gospel that may make your eye flash back again the immortal fires of bliss. Do you want something to make you stand steadfast in the midst of temptation? In the Gospel there is that that can make you immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The Gospel was evidently meant for manhood; it is adapted to it in its every part. There is knowledge for the head; there is love for the heart; there is guidance for the foot. And I think there is another meaning in the two words “wine and milk.” Wine is a rich thing, something that requires much time to manufacture. There has to be vintage and fermentation and preservation before wine can come to its full flavour. The Gospel is like that; it is an extraordinary thing for feast days; it gives a man power to use a vintage of thought, a fermentation of action, and a preservation of experience, till a man’s piety comes forth like the sparkling wine that makes the heart leap with gladness. But milk is an ordinary thing; you get it every day, anywhere. So is it with the Gospel: it is a thing for every day.

II. Having thus exhibited the article, my next business is to BRING THE BIDDERS UP TO THE AUCTION BOX AND SELL IT. My difficulty is to bring you down to my price. Here comes some one up to the sacred desk, transformed for the moment into an auction-box, and he cries, “I want to buy.” What will you give for it? He holds out his hands, and he has such a handful; he

has to lift up his very lap with more, for he can hardly hold all his good works. He has Ave-Marius and Paternosters without number, and all kinds of crossings with holy water, and bendings of the knee, and prostrations before the altar, and reverence of the host, and attending at the mass, and so on. And so, Sir Romanist, you are coming to get salvation are you? and you have brought all this with you lava sorry for thee, but thou must go away from the box with all thy performances, for it is without money and without price, and until thou art prepared to come empty-handed thou canst never have it. Then another comes up and says, “I am glad you have served the Romanist like, that” I hate the Church of Rome; I am a true Protestant, and desire to be saved. What have you brought, sir? “Oh I have brought no Ave-Marias, no Paternosters. But I say the collect every Sunday; I am very attentive to my prayers. I got to church almost as soon as the doors are open,” or “I go to chapel three times on the Sabbath and I attend the prayer-meetings; and beside that, I pay everybody twenty shillings in the pound; I would not like to hurt anybody; I am always liberal, and assist the poor when! can. I may make a little slip just now and then. Still, if I am mot saved I do not know who will be. I am as good as my neighbours, and I think I certainly ought to be saved, for I have very few sins, and what few there are do not hurt other people; they hurt me more than any one else. Besides, they are mere trifles.” I will send you away; there is no salvation for you, for it is “without money and without price;” and as long as you bring these fine good works of yours, you cannot have it. Mark, I do not find any fault with them, they are good enough in their place, but they won’t do here, but they won’t do at the judgment bar of God. Suppose I see a man building a house, and he were fool enough to lay the foundation with chimney-pots. If I should say, “My dear man, I do not like these chimney-pots to be put into the foundation, ‘ you would not say I found fault with the chimney-pots, but that I found fault with the man for putting them in the wrong place. So with good works and ceremonies; they will not do for a foundation. The foundation must be built of more solid stuff. But see another man. He is a long way off, and he says, “Sir, I am afraid to come; I could not come and make a bid for the salvation. Sir, I’ve got no larnin’, I’m no scholard, I can’t read a book, I wish I could. My children go to Sunday-school; I wish there was such a thing in my time; I can’t read, and it’s no use my hoping to go to heaven. I goes to church sometimes, but oh dear I it’s no good; the man uses such long words I can’t understand ‘em, and I goes to chapel sometimes, but I can’t make it out.” It wants no scholarship to go to heaven. Now, I see a man come up to the stall, and he says, “Well, I will have salvation, sir; I have made in my will provisions for the building of a church or two, and a few almshouses; I always devote a part of my substance to the cause of God; I always receive the poor, and such-like; I have a pretty good share of money, and I take care not to hoard it up; I am generous and liberal. Won’t that carry me to heaven?” Well, I like you very much, and I wish there were more of your sort. But if you bring these things as your hope of heaven, I must undeceive you. You cannot buy heaven with gold. Why, they pave the streets up there with it. Wealth makes distinction on earth, but no distinction at the Cross of Christ. You must all come alike to the footstool of Jesus, or else not come at all. I knew a minister who told me he was once sent for to the dying bed of a woman who was very well to do in the world, and she said, “Mr. Baxter, do you think when I get to heaven Betsy my servant will be there?” “Well,” he said, “I don’t know much about you, but Betsy will be there; for if I know any one who is a pious girl, it is she.” “Well,” said the lady, “don’t you think there will be a little distinction? for I never could find it in my heart to sit down with a girl of that sort; she has no taste, no education, and I could not endure it. I think there ought to be a little difference.” “Ah I you need not trouble yourself, madam,” he said, “there will be a great distinction between you and Betsy, if you die in the temper in which you now are; but the distinction will be on the wrong side; for you see her in Abraham’s bosom, but you yourself will be cast out. As long as you have such pride in your heart, yon can never enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The highway is as much for the poor man as the rich man; so is the kingdom of heaven—“without money and without price.”

III. I have to use A FEW ARGUMENTS with you.

1. I would speak to you who never think about these things at all.

2. I have now the pleasing task of addressing men of another character. You do feel your need of a Saviour. Remember, Christ died for you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The desire to bring something to Christ

I dare say in this congregation I have a hundred different phases of this singular fatuity of man—the desire to bring something to Christ. “Oh, ‘ says one, “I would come to Christ, but I have been too great a sinner.’ Self again, sir, your being a great sinner has nothing to do with that. Christ is a great Saviour, and however great your sin, His mercy is greater than that. He invites you simply as a sinner. Another says, “Ah, but I do not feel it enough.” Self again. He does not ask yon about your feelings; He simply says, “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” “But, sir, I cannot pray.” Self again. You are not to be saved by your prayers; you are to be saved by Christ, and your business is simply to look to Christ; tie will help you to pray afterwards. But, says another, “if I felt as So-and-so did. Self again. “Yes,” you say, “I think He would receive anybody but me.” Please, who gave you any leave to think at all in the matter? Does He not say, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise cast out”? Give up thinking, and believe. Are your thoughts as God’s thoughts, “But,” says one, “I have sought Him, but I have not found Him.” Can you truly say that you have come to Christ with nothing in your hand, and have looked alone to Him, and yet He has cast you away T Do you dare to say that? No: if God’s Word be true, and you are true, you cannot say that. If you will come down to this prince,” and take Christ for nothing, just as He is, “without, money and without price,” you shall not find Him a hard Master. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

“Without money and without price

I. THE SURPRISING NATURE OF THIS FACT, for it is very surprising to mankind to hear that salvation is “without money and without price.” It is so surprising to them that the plainest terms cannot make them understand it; and, though you tell them a thousand times a day, yet they persist in thinking that you mean some thing else. Why is it when man does see it he is surprised at it?

1. Because of man’s relation to God, and his wrong judgment of Him. Man thinks that God is a hard master.

2. No doubt, also, the condition of man under the fall makes it more difficult for him to comprehend that the gifts of God are “without money and without price,” for he finds that he is doomed to toil for almost everything he needs.

3. Again man recollects the general rule of men towards each other, for in this world what is to be had for nothing except that which is worth nothing?

4. Another matter helps man into this difficulty, namely, his natural pride. He does not like to be a pauper before God.

5. Once more, all religions that ever have been in the world of man’s making teach that the gifts of God are to be purchased or merited. Though I have thus shown grounds for our surprise, yet if men would think a little they might not be quite so unbelievingly amazed as they are; for, after all, the best blessings we have come to us freely. What price have you paid for your lives? and yet they are very precious. What price do you pay for the air you breathe? What price does a man pay for the sunlight? Life and air and light come to us “without money and without price.” And our faculties, too—who pays for eyesight? The ear which

hears the song of the bird at dawn, what price is given for it? The senses are freely bestowed on us by God, and so is the sleep which rests them. It is clear then that some of the best blessings we possess come to us by the way of free gift; and come to the undeserving, too, for the dew shall sparkle to-morrow upon the grass in the miser’s field, and the rain shall fall in due season upon the rising corn of the wretch who blasphemes his God.

II. THE NECESSITY OF THE FACT mentioned in our text.

1. From the character of the Donor. It is God that gives. Would you have Him sell His pardons?

2. Because of the value of the boon. As one has well said, “it is without price because it is priceless.”

3. From the extremity of human destitution. The blessings of grace must be given “without money and without price,” for we have no money or price to bring.

III. THE SALUTARY INFLUENCE. OF THIS FACT. If it be “without money and without price,” what then?

1. That enables us to preach the gospel to every creature.

2. This fact has the salutary effect of excluding all pride. If it be “without money and without price,” you rich people have not a halfpennyworth of advantage above the poorest of the poor in this matter.

3. It forbids despair.

4. It inspires with gratitude, and that gratitude becomes the basis of holiness.

5. It engenders in the soul the generous virtues. The man who is saved for nothing feels first with regard to his fellow-men that he must deal lovingly with them. Has God forgiven me? Then I can freely forgive those who have trespassed against me. He longs to see others saved, and therefore he lays himself out to bring them to Jesus Christ. If he had bought his salvation I dare say he might be proud of it, and wish to keep it to himself Then the free gifts of grace, working by the power and energy of the Holy Spirit, create in us the generous virtues towards God.

6. I cannot think of anything that will make more devout worshippers in heaven than this. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

“Come"

Linger not, loiter not, frame not excuse, strain not courtesy, hang not off by sinful bashfulness: it is good manners to fall to your meat. (J. Trapp.)

“Without money and without price"

1. This gracious way of a sinner’s full enjoyment of Christ stands not in opposition to praying, attendance upon the ministry of the “Word, or believing.

2. This is to be understood in an opposition to the price and value of our works. You can lay down nothing that hath merit or recompense in it; that hath answerable value, or any value in it. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Christ’s gracious terms

All that poor sinners need may be bought of Christ upon gracious terms. Six things demonstrate it.

1. The sinner’s insufficiency.

2. His unworthiness.

3. The inconsistency of any other way of trading with Christ Rom_4:4; Rom_11:6).

4. The invaluableness of the commodities.

5. The quality of the contract. “Ask.” “Believe.”

6. The work of the Seller.

(1) He is to find all that poor sinners need.

(2) Upon His own proper costs and charge.

(3) He is to give all to them. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Trying to buy salvation

Mr. Webb-Peploe tells of a wealthy man whom he had never known to give five farthings a year in charity, who sent for him once when ill with paralysis. The man said to the minister, “I am afraid [ may die. I have sent for you that I may do what is right before God; I want to go to heaven, and I want you to take a hundred pounds for the poor.” The man of God looked the sinner straight in the face and said, “Do you think you are going to buy your soul’s way to glory with a dirty hundred pounds? Give your money where you like, I will not touch it.” That was bitter medicine, but some diseases require sharp treatment. The man lived, and learned that salvation is not to be bought with money. (Christian Budget.)

Without money and without price

Roland Hill was once preaching at a fair within earshot of the rival gongs of the vagrant merchantmen. Pointing to them, he said, “They and I are both offering goods for sale. But their difficulty is to get you up to their price; my difficulty is to get you down to mine. I offer you goods without money and without price. (Christian Budget.)

Too valuable to be bought

Zeuxis gave his pictures to his native city for nothing, because they were too good to be bought with gold. To offer money for them was to undervalue them. Can I buy pardon with anything I can call mine? (Christian Budget.)

No coinage can buy spiritual good

A man lands in a far country with English shillings in his pocket, but he finds that no coins go there but thalers, or francs, or dollars, or the like; and his money is only current in his own land, and he has got to get it changed before he can make his purchases. So with a pocketful of it he may as well be penniless. And, in like fashion, you and I, with all our strenuous efforts, which we

are bound to make and which there is joy in making, after these lower things that correspond to our efforts, find that we have no coinage that will buy the good things of the kingdom of heaven, without which we faint and die. (A. Maclaran, D. D.)

Isaiah 55:2-3 Wherefore do ye spend money

Weighing money

In the first clause there is reference to the primitive custom of weighing instead of counting money, from which have arisen several of the most familiar denominations, such as the Hebrew “shekel,” the Greek “talent,” the French “livre,” and the English “pound. ” The essential idea is that of paying. (J. A. Alexander.)

The folly of man as a worker

I. HERE IS THE RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT MAN IS A VOLUNTARY WORKER. “The appeal implies that he is” free both in the expenditure of his “money and the prosecution of his “labour.’ Every part of the universe, works, but man only is a free worker. He works, not as material bodies work, by an outward force, nor as brutes, by blind impulses, but by his own deliberate purpose,—by choice and plan. There are at least four, considerations which bind, with indissoluble bonds, our faith to the doctrine of man’s voluntary action.

1. It is not impossible for the Almighty to create a being that shall be wholly free in action.

2. There is an antecedent probability that He would create such a being. A creature endowed with this independency of action would of all creatures be most like Himself, most fitted to show forth His glory. And as He created the universe for the manifestation of Himself, would it not be probable that, having the power to do would it now look to you,” says the philosophic Saxon, King Alfred, “if there were any very powerful king, and he had no freemen in all his kingdom, but that all were slaves?” “Then,” said I, “it would be thought by me neither right not reasonable if men that were in a servile condition only, should attend upon him.” “Then,” quoth he, “it would be more unnatural if God, in all His kingdom, had no free creature under his power.” Therefore,. He made two rational creatures, free angels and men, and gave them the great gift of freedom.

3. The mental constitution of man seems to provide for this freedom of action. Man is so formed that he always acts from purpose.

4. The consciousness of universal man attests the fact of human freedom.

II. HERE IS THE RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT MAN AS A VOLUNTARY WORKER SHOULD AIM AT THE ATTAINMENT OF MORALLY STRENGTHENING AND SATISFYING GOOD. What is the moral bread? Ask first what is the strength of the soul,—the moral stamina? Godliness. Where is the “bread” which both strengthens and satisfies the soul? Christ says, “I am the Bread of life.”

III. HERE IS THE RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT MAN, AS A VOLUNTARY WORKER, FREQUENTLY MISAPPLIES HIS POWER. He spends his “money” for that which is not “bread,” and his labour for that which “satisfieth not.” What is it to expend your property and labour in vain?

1. To strive after power as the chief end is to do so.

2. To strive after wealth as the chief end is to do so.

3. To strive after knowledge as the chief end is to do so. Neither scientific ideas, nor poetic creations, nor artistic embellishments are bread.

4. To strive after happiness as the chief end, is to do so. From this subject we may infer—

(1) The immense amount of waste human labour that is constantly going on in the world.

(2) The well-being of man consists not in the form of his labour, but in the principle that inspires and controls it.

(3) The exquisite fitness of Christianity to man’s condition. (Homilist.)

Folly and Wisdom

I. A FOOLISH COURSE TO BE AVOIDED,

II. A WISE METHOD TO BE PURSUED. (R. W. Pritchard, Ph. D.)

God’s provision for man’s need

What is man’s way of meeting this great need? Spending money and labour for that which does not satisfy; in other words, using every means he can command, save the only right and true means, to satisfy the cravings of his immortal nature; a course that will prove fatal to his deathless interests if persisted in. But God meets him and—

I. CHALLENGES THIS FATAL ERROR. “Wherefore do ye spend money,” etc. The “wherefore” of the text implies three things on the part of God,—benign condescension; surprise; and gentle chiding. True life is impossible where the bread of life is not eaten.

1. Observation proves this.

2. Experience sustains the same truth.

3. History illustrates the same fact.

4. The Bible affirms the same doctrine.

II. MEN WHO SEEK THESE THINGS AS THE HIGHEST GOOD ARE IN A STATE OF CONSTANT HUNGER AND UNREST. It is not bread, it does not “satisfy.”

III. GOD’S PLAN OF MEETING THE SOUL’S TRUE WANTS. Three terms are used of similar import, and that are of first importance to us, if we would put ourselves into harmony with the plan of God in relation to our good, “Hearken,” “hear,” and “incline your ear.” These terms imply humility, docility and reverent attention.

1. God credits man with the capacity to receive and obey His communications.

2. God speaks to man, revealing His will, unfolding His way of meeting the deepest needs of our nature.

3. These Divine communications relate to our highest good. “Eat ye that which is good.”

4. These provisions are richly abundant. “Let your soul delight itself in fatness.” “Delight’ and “fatness ‘ are two very prolific words and supply the fancy with almost boundless range.

5. There is life through obedience to the Divine plan. “Hear, and your soul shall live.”

6. The blessings God offers are lasting as they are excellent. “I will make an everlasting covenant with you,” etc. “An everlasting covenant” points to God’s unchangeableness, and to His being ever ready to redeem all the pledges of His love and mercy. What should be the soul’s attitude towards God while He makes these rich communications? “Hearken diligently,” “Incline your ear,” “Come unto him.” How striking the order! The attention is first arrested, then absorbed, then the soul draws near to’ God with profound interest in the revelation, ready to take the offered grace. (J. Higgins.)

The false and true in pleasure

I. THE FALSE.

1. The false is expensive. All false pleasure is sought from one or other of the following sources—sensual gratification, secular wealth, or popular fame—each very expensive. They cost what is infinitely more precious than gold—time, energy, moral peace, mental independency, and frequently health.

2. The false is not sustaining: it is not “bread.” Were it obtained, it would not strengthen. It does not give mental strength: sensuality enervates the intellect. The love of gain makes man a tactician, not a thinker. The breath of mammon is poison to a free intellect, and the love of fame fills the mind with the unhealthy sentiment of vanity; nor does it give spiritual strength—strength to resist temptation—to bear trials—to help humanity—toserve God—to face death. It destroys this.

3. The false is not satisfactory. “ Satisfieth not.”

II. THE TRUE.

1. True pleasure consists in spiritual communications from God. “Hearken diligently unto Me,” etc. Three things are implied in this language:—

(1) That God has made spiritual communications to man. This is a fact. They are the substance of the Bible.

(2) That man has a capacity to appreciate these communications. A wonderful argument this for the native dignity of the soul.

(3) That to appreciate these communications requires the most diligent study. The Bible is a difficult book, challenging the concentration of intellectual power.

2. That the pleasure thus derived is of the highest conceivable description

(1) Essentially excellent—“good.”

(2) Abundantly sufficient—“delights itself in fatness.”

(3) Spiritually quickening—“your soul shall live.”

3. That the continuation of this, the highest pleasure, is guaranteed by the solemn assurance of God. “And I will make an everlasting covenant with you.’ Here is a pledge of its perpetuity. If a promise is not fulfilled, it must be for one of three reasons: either that the author was insincere when it was made, or that he subsequently changed his mind, or lacked the necessary power to redeem the pledge. Neither of these suppositions is admissible; therefore, this true pleasure is everlasting. (Homilist.)

Food for the soul

1. Everything that has life must have food.

2. Man has the nature and wants of an animal. He also has a higher nature that takes hold of truth and God. He has, therefore, to care for a double life.

3. The text means that we put much into one side of life, hoping vainly for an equivalent of happiness on the other. The soul must have other food.

4. For this want there is a kind of borderland provision in Church forms But religion cannot tarry in this borderland.

5. So we rise to the truth that the soups life is in God. (H. W. Thomas, D. D.)

Foolish neglect and fruitless labour

1. All the good that Christ doth offer, and all the gracious terms upon which He doth offer are sometimes slighted and refused by sinners.

2. Sinners are earnestly labouring and trading for vain and unprofitable things, when the great things of Christ are offered to them.

3. All the cost which men lay out, and all the pains which men do take for salvation from anything besides Christ, or in any other way than Christ’s way, are utterly fruitless. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

The folly of pursuing that which does not satisfy

I. ALL OTHER THINGS BESIDES THOSE WHICH CHRIST DOTH OFFER, ARE VAIN AND UNPROFITABLE.

II. SINNERS DO LABORIOUSLY PURSUE THEM, when yet Christ doth offer unto them the chiefest good for their souls.

III. WHY SINNERS DO THIS.

IV. THE EXTREME FOLLY OF THIS. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

“No bread"

The Hebrew term, “for that which is not bread,” reads more correctly, “for that which is no-bread.” It means that for which men spend their energies is “no-bread,” it is the negative of bread; it is the very opposite of bread. It is that which not only does not alleviate our hunger, but makes us more hungry! It does not fill our emptiness, but makes us more empty than ever. Not only does it fail to satisfy, but it makes us more dissatisfied! Just as salt water not only fails to quench the thirst, but aggravates it. (A. S. Gumbart.)

Hearken diligently unto Me

Hearkening and eating

Two thoughts are brought to our attention, as indicating the steps by which we bring ourselves into that blessed experience in which we may be conscious of having received the gift of God.

1. We must listen diligently. “Hearken diligently unto Me.’ That is, hearken with intense desire and eagerness. In the third verse God says: “Incline your ear, and come unto Me.’ This word “incline” is a strong word; it carries with it the idea of stretching the neck, as one anxiously, eagerly listening, or as a, hound in pursuing game.

2. The second thing is, Eat. “ Eat ye that which is good.” (A. S. Gumbart.)

God’s call should be heeded

There are six arguments which I would make use of to persuade you to embrace this counsel.

1. Christ offers you the best things—better things than the world can afford you.

2. Christ offers unto you the things that are best for you.

3. You may have these earthly things upon better terms if you could close with the things which Christ doth offer.

4. Christ alone is a portion, infinitely better than all the world alone.

5. You will lose Christ, and all these things of the world too, by neglecting Christ, and preferring before Him these things of the world.

6. You cannot drive both these trades together. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Hearkening

There are five things which that word doth denote.

1. A taking into our ears sounds, words, messages, reports, spoken unto us.

2. Sometimes to hear is the same with to understand.

3. Sometimes the same with to believe.

4. Sometimes to regard and approve.

5. Sometimes to obey, to follow what is said. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Diligent hearkening to Christ

I. WHAT THIS DILIGENT HEARKENING TO CHRIST DOTH CONTAIN. In it He diligently hearkens to Christ.

1. Who doth carefully and regardfully observe Christ in His gracious offers.

2. Who seriously considers all the gracious offers of Christ.

3. Who judges highly of the offers of Christ.

4. Who obeys the voice of Christ.

II. HOW IT MAY APPEAR THAT JESUS CHRIST IS EARNEST AND IMPORTUNATE WITH SINNERS, diligently to hearken unto Him.

1. By the gradations of His dealings with sinners.

(1) He opens and proclaims the way of life and happiness to them Joh_14:6).

(2) He presents this salvation to them (Act_13:26).

(3) He encourages them to come from the certainty of allgood, from the graciousness of His own terms “Come, and buy without money, and from the acceptance of their persons (Joh_6:37).

(4) He entreats them to hearken unto Him (2Co_5:20).

(5) He commands them authoritatively to obey His voice (1Jn_3:23).

(6) He allures them with all sorts of promises.

(7) He shows them the greatness and inevitableness of their danger, if they refuse to hearken (Joh_8:24; Heb_2:3).

(8) He expressly threatens a peremptory damnation, if sinners will not hearken (Mar_16:16).

(9) He furnishes ambassadors with all sorts of gifts, to enable them to deal, and treat, and woo, and work on sinners to hearken.

(10) He is content to pass by all the days of ignorance.

(11) He lets a light into their minds which shows them a personal and absolute need of Himself.

(12) He disproves, confutes and shames all the carnal arguments of sinners.

(13) He affects the hearts and wills of sinners by many strivings of His Spirit.

(14) He rouses the drowsy, careless sinner by outward special afflictions.

(15) He breaks up the consciences of sinners, so that the terms of God fall on them.

(16) He cuts off all their confidence in this distressed condition, so that no course shall ease or quiet or help.

(17) He takes the opportunity, and, in this broken condition, sends messengers of hope and mercy to the sinner (Act_9:10-11).

(18) He answers all the fears and doubts of sinners, both in respect of Himself (1Jn_2:1; Rev_3:20); and in respect of themselves—assuring them that neither the multitude of former sins nor abundance of present wants shall hinder mercy and salvation, if they will hearken and come.

(19) He advances instances how sinners have fared by hearkening and coming to Him, e.g the jailor, Mary Magdalene, Saul of Tarsus 1Ti_1:16).

(20) If none of these prevail with sinners to hearken, then doth Christ take His utter farewell of them with sighs and tears Luk_19:41-42).

2. By the qualities of His voice. It is—

(1) a plain voice, easy to be understood.

(2) A high voice (Joh_7:37).

(3) Long and patient (Rom_10:21).

(4) In season and out of season.

(5) Quick. To the ear, thence to the mind, thence to the conscience.

(6) Expostulating.

(7) Very pressing.

III. WHAT JESUS CHRIST IS SO IMPORTUNATE WITH SINNERS TO HEARKEN UNTO HIM. There are reasons for this:

1. In respect of sinners.

(1) Because of their dulness and slowness.

(2) Because sinners are careless.

(3) Because they are very unteachable.

(4) Because they are backward to hearken, and accept His gracious offers.

(5) Because they are very perverse and desperate (Zec_7:11-12; Act_7:51).

2. In respect of Christ Himself.

(1) Because He is Christ, full of compassion.

(2) Because He knows the condition of our souls:

(a) their worth,

(b) their lost condition,

(c) the wrath which will certainly befall disobedient souls,

(d) wherein real happiness lies,

(e) the difficulty of gaining souls,

(f) what power Satan hath with our souls. (O. Sedgwick, B. D.)

Eat ye that which is good

Feeding on the Word

I. Here is FOOD Eat ye that which is good.”

1. How is it presented to us? Freely. There was a word about buying; but that was soon covered up with, “Buy without money and without price.’ While it is thus presented freely as to any labour with which to procure it, it is also presented freely as to its quality, its highest quality. You are not permitted to drink freely of water, and then to purchase wine. The richest dainties of God’s house are as free as the bread He gives to hungry souls. The only limitation is no limitation at all: “ Ho, every one that thirsteth!”

2. What is this food?

(1) The Word of God.

(2) Better still, the incarnate Word of God.

(3) The grace of God.

3. What is the nature of this food? It is in every sense of the word “good.” It is satisfying. It is pure; no harm can ever come by eating it. This heavenly food is good for you at any time, good for you living, good for you dying. All other foods that men seek after are unsubstantial;

they can surfeit, but they cannot satisfy; they can cloy, but they cannot content; but the food that has come down from heaven, if a man does but take it into himself, shall be the best food he ever ate. Moreover, this food is described here as being fatness. “ Let thy soul delight itself in fatness.” Within the Word of God, there are certain choicer truths; in Christ, there are certain choicer joys; in grace, there are certain choicer experiences than men at first realize.

II. Here is FEEDING. One of the most important words in our text is that little word “eat.” Food is of no use until it is eaten. You ought not to need any instruction on this point. We take a great many orphans into the Orphanage, and some of them are very ignorant, and we have to teach them a great many things; but we have no class for teaching them to eat. If men were hungry, they would know how to eat, if they had the bread. It is because men are not really hungry on account of sin that they come and ask us, “What do you mean by the eating?” Yet it may be that some are sincere in asking the question, so I will answer it.

1. To eat is to believe.

2. To eat is chiefly to appropriate.

3. The full process of eating includes digestion. How do I digest the Word of God? When I meditate upon it.

4. Feeding also means trusting yourself wholly to Christ.

III. WELCOME. What does the Lord say? “Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

1. Here is no stint. It is not said, “Here is a pair of scales; here is a plate; here is a knife. The law allows so many ounces of meat to you, just so much, and you must not have half-an-ounce over. Nothing of the kind. You are just taken to the table, and the exhortation is, “Eat to your heart’s content.”

2. As there is no stint, so there is no reserve. It is not said, “ Now you may eat those two things; but you must not touch that nice fat morsel over there; that is for the particular favourite, not for you.” No, when God invites you to His table, you may have anything there is on the table.

3. So, too, there is no end to the feast. “ Keep on delighting yourself in fatness. You will never use it all up.” I read of a country once, though I hardly believed the description of it; for it was said that the grass grew faster than the cows could eat it. Well, there is a country that I know of, where the grass grows faster than the sheep can eat it. You may eat all you will out of the Divine Word; but you will find that there is more left than you have taken; and it seems as if there were more after you had taken it, as if the grass grew deeper as you fed more ravenously upon it.,

IV. DELIGHT.

1. There is no peril in holy joy, in delighting yourself in God’s Word, and delighting yourself in Christ.

2. There will be no idleness or selfishness produced by this fat feeding.

3. May you also attain a sense of holy security!

4. Then, may you come into a state of perfect rest!

5. May you also come into a state of complete resignation to the will of God!

6. May you be filled with a happy expectancy. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The soul’s best food

I. THE REASON FOR THE EXHORTATION IN OUR TEXT: “Eat ye that which” is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

1. The exceeding bountifulness of God in Christ Jesus. The invitation here given IS in accordance with the character of the God who gives it.

2. The abundant provision that He has made for the supply of our needs. If any of you prepared a feast, it would be very grievous to you if your friends did not eat what you had provided. It is the very heart of God speaking in these words, and it is the provision of God’s grace claiming to be consumed.

God’s love pleading that what He has provided so bountifully should not be lost or wasted.

3. The Divine desire for fellowship. Almost always, when fellowship is spoken of in relation to God, expressions which concern eating are used. Fellowship begins, as it were, at the passover, at the eating of the lamb. In the tabernacle in the wilderness, the offerings were not all burnt upon the altar; many of them were partaken of by both the offerer and the priest, and by God as represented by the devouring flame. So, when Jesus instituted that blessed memorial supper, “He said to His disciples, concerning the bread, “Take,. eat;” and, concerning the cup, “Drink ye all of it.” When, in the Revelation, He said to the angel of the church in Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” you know how He goes on to say, “If any man hear My voice, and open, the door, I will come-in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. This appears to be God’s favourite image to express fellowship.

4. Our exceeding great necessities. You must eat, so “eat ye that which is good.” Your soul needs the best food, so “let your soul delight itself in fatness,” in the fat and dainty morsels which the great God, who understands us even better than we understand ourselves, has so bountifully provided for us.

5. Our extreme foolishness. What a stupid animal man must be to need to be told to eat, and be urged to eat that which is good! The little lamb, in the meadow, has scarcely come into the world before it finds out where its mother’s milk is, and very soon it begins to crop the tender herbage, and to find food for itself. Most creatures, by what we call instinct, discover their own natural food; but here is man, so foolish, so mad, so much more wild than the wild ass’s colt, that he needs to be told to eat, spiritually. One part of human foolishness lies in the fact that we so often seek that which is not good for us, so that the Lord has to say to us, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” Man is described in Scripture as feeding upon ashes. It is not only that we are willing to eat that which is evil, but that we are unwilling to eat that which is good. Many persons will hear that which is good, and will even assent to our declaration that it is good; yet they do not eat it. What is spiritual eating? It is the inward reception of the truth of God into the soul. To hear the truth is, as it were, to see the bread. To think upon the truth is, as it were, to cut the bread, and put it on the plate. But this will never nourish any man; he must take the bread into his inward parts, and digest and assimilate it. There is this folly even about God’s own children, that they do not eat that, which is good according to the lavish, inexhaustible fulness provided by God. Let your soul delight itself in fatness. How very few minutes in a day most of us spend in feeding our souls I

6. Our fears. There is many a child of God, who longs for spiritual food, but he is afraid that he would be guilty of presumption if he ate it; so, when there is a very fat piece that is just

going into his mouth, he says, “No, that cannot be for me,” and he draws back from it. Just look at the text: “Let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

II. THE BENEFITS OF OBEYING THE COMMAND OF THE TEXT.

1. The pleasure of it. “Let your soul delight itself in fatness.

2. The great preserving power of good spiritual food. It helps to keep us out of temptation.

3. Spiritual food comforts mourners. The analogy of this will be found in Neh_8:9-10. It was of this that Mary sang, “He hath filled the hungry with good things.”

4. It revives the fainting ones.

5. Spiritual eating is also a great strength for service.

6. It fits us to feed others. Ezekiel had to go and speak to the house of Israel in the name of the Lord; do you remember his preparation for that task,—the college to which he went? He saw a hand, which held a roll of a book, and a voice said to him, “Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.” He cannel; preach till he has eaten the roll. I believe that, in the courts of law, young men have to eat themselves into the profession; beside all other qualifications, they must eat a certain number of dinners before they can be fully certificated. It is a strange regulation with regard to earthly courts, hut it is a right and proper thing in the courts of heaven.

7. It is the best mode of fellowship. Feed on the Word of God; especially feed on the Incarnate Word; otherwise, you cannot possibly enter into true spiritual fellowship with God.

8. Feeding upon the Word is the best way of promoting praise. You know how the 103 rd Psalm begins: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Then, a little further on, the psalmist says, “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” A hungry soul cannot sing well; the soul that best sings the praises of God is the one that has delighted itself with the fatness of the Divine provision. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

“Fatness”

“Fatness” in the Scriptures is used to denote the richest food (Gen_27:28-39; Job_36:16; Psa_65:11), and hence is an emblem of the rich and abundant blessings resulting from the favour of God (Psa_36:8; Psa_63:5). (A. Barnes, D. D.)

The path of life

Professor George Adam Smith talks about what he considers the greatest pathos of our life on earth—it is the fact that so many million souls are unconsciously starving right within reach of the food they need. They have only to stretch out their hands and take the bread of life, but their hands are glued to their sides.

An unsuitable diet

Some German women have fallen into the habit of “naschen,” i.e of nibbling comfits and cakes all day long. They carry “cornets “ of bon-bons in their pockets, and nibble at them continually. No one wonders that they suffer greatly from disordered digestions, and become sallow, and irritable, and old before their time. And does not plain common-sense teach us that, when

people feed their souls upon a diet of novels, or of gossip, or of frivolities of every kind, they must necessarily suffer from languor of spiritual life, debility of spiritual digestion, failure of vitality, and a creeping moral paralysis. (Mrs. H. W. Smith.)

8. CALVIN. “1.Ho, all that are thirsty. Here the Prophet describes in lofty terms of commendation the

goodness of God, which was to be poured down more copiously and abundantly than before under the

reign of Christ, “ whose hand are hid all the treasures” (Col_2:3) of the grace of God; for in him God fully

explains his mind to us; so that the saying of John is actually fulfilled, “ have all drawn from his fullness,

and have received grace for grace.” (Joh_1:16) The fathers were, indeed, partakers of that divine

goodness and spiritual kindness which is here mentioned. “ great,” says David, “ thy goodness, which

hath been laid up for them that fear thee!” (Psa_31:19) But he hath poured it out far more liberally and

abundantly in Christ. Thus, it is a remarkable commendation of the grace of God, which is exhibited to us

in the kingdom of Christ; for the Prophet does not instruct us what has been done once, but also what is

done every day, while the Lord invites us by his doctrine to the enjoyment of all blessings.

Come to the waters. Some view the word “” as referring to the doctrine of the Gospel, and others to the

Holy Spirit; but neither of these expositions, in my opinion, is correct. They who think that it denotes the

doctrine of the Gospel, and who contrast it with the law, (of which the Jewish writers think that the

Prophet speaks in this passage,) include only one part of what the Prophet meant. They who expound it

as denoting the Holy Spirit have somewhat more plausibility, and quote that passage of John’ Gospel,

“ thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have

asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” (Joh_4:10)

And a little after, Christ appears to expound this passage when he says,

“ one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water which I shall give

to him shall never thirst; but the water which I shall give to him shall become in him a fountain of water

springing up to everlasting life.” (Joh_4:13)

But I have no doubt that under these words, “ milk, wine, bread,” Isaiah includes all that is necessary for

spiritual life; for the metaphors are borrowed from those kinds of food which are in daily use amongst us.

As we are nourished by “ wine, milk, and water,” so in like manner let us know that our souls are fed and

supported by the doctrine of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, and other gifts of Christ.

The Prophet exclaims, as with a voice above the usual pitch, He! for so great is the sluggishness of men

that it is very difficult to arouse them. They do not feel their wants, though they are hungry; nor do they

desire food, which they greatly need; and therefore that indifference must be shaken off by loud and

incessant cries. So much the more base and shameful is the indolence of those who are deaf to this

exhortation, and who, even when they are so sharply urged forward, still indulge in their slothfulness.

Besides, the invitation is general; for there is no man who is not in want of those “” and to whom Christ is

not necessary; and therefore he invites all indiscriminately, without any respect of persons. But men are

so miserable that, although they know that they are in need of Christ, they contrive methods by which

they may be deprived of this benefit, and rather believe the devil, who offers various obstructions, than

this kind invitation.

We must therefore inquire what is the true preparation for receiving this grace. The Prophet describes it

by the word “” Those who are puffed up with vain confidence and are satiated, or who, intoxicated by

earthly appetites, do not feel thirst of soul, will not receive Christ; because they have no relish for spiritual

grace. They resemble those persons who are in want of nourishments, but who, because they are filled

and swollen with wind, loathe food, or who, being carried away by their own vain imaginations, feed on

their own stupidity, as if they were in want of nothing. The consequence is, that they who are puffed up

with pride or a false opinion of their own righteousness, or whom the allurements of the flesh have seized

with lethargy, despise or reject the grace of God. It is therefore necessary that we have “” that is, an

ardent desire, in order that it may be possible for us to receive so great blessings.

Buy without money. He does not mean that there are any persons who have money in abundance, but

the words ought to be explained thus. “ they are poor, although they are sunk in the deepest poverty, yet

the way is open for them to come to Christ, through whom these blessings are freely bestowed.” “ how is

it possible,” it will be said, “ buy without a price?” I reply, “” denotes figuratively the method by which we

procure anything; and שבר (shabar) is here put for “” and “” for labor or industry, or any other method by

which men obtain anything, he shows that we are poor and utterly destitute, and that we have nothing by

which we can become entitled to God’ favor; but that he kindly invites us, in order that he may freely

bestow everything without any recompense.

9. MACLAREN, “THE CALL TO THE THIRSTY

The call to partake of the blessings of the Messianic salvation worthily follows the great prophecy of the suffering Servant. No doubt the immediate application of this chapter is to the exiled nation, who in it are summoned from their vain attempts to find satisfaction in the material prosperity realised in exile, and to make the only true blessedness their own by obedience to God’s voice. But if ever the prophet spoke to the world he does so here. It is no unwarranted spiritualising of his invitation which hears in it the voice which invites all mankind to share the blessings of the gospel feast.

The glorious words need little exposition. What we have to do is to see that they do not fall on our ears in vain. They may be roughly divided into two sections-the invitation to the feast, with the promises to the obedient Israel (Isa_55:1-5), and the summons to the necessary preparation for the feast, namely, repentance, with the reason for its necessity, and the encouragements to it in the might of God’s faithful promises (Isa_55:6-13).

I. Whose voice sounds so beseechingly and welcoming in this great call, which rings out to all thirsty souls? If we note the ‘Me’ and ‘I’ which follow, we shall hear God Himself thus taking the office of summoner to His own feast. By whatever media the gospel call reaches us, it is in reality God’s own voice to our hearts, and that makes the responsibility of hearing more tremendous, and the folly of refusing more inexcusable.

Who are invited? There are but two conditions expressed in Isa_55:1, and these are fulfilled in every soul. All are summoned who are thirsty and penniless. If we have in our souls desires that all the broken cisterns of earth can never slake-and we all have these-and if we have nothing by which we can procure what will still the gnawing hunger and burning thirst of our souls-and none of us has-then we are included in the call. Universal as are the craving for blessedness and the powerlessness to satisfy it, are the adaptation and destination of the gospel.

What is offered? Water, wine, milk-all the beverages of a simple civilisation, differing in their operation, but all precious to a thirsty palate. Water revives, wine gladdens and inspirits, milk

nourishes. All that any man needs or desires is to be found in Christ. We shall not understand the nature of the feast unless we remember that He Himself is the ‘gift of God.’ What these three draughts mean is best perceived when we listen to Him saying, in a plain quotation of this call, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.’ Nothing short of Himself can satisfy the thirst of one soul, much less of all the thirsty. Like the flow from the magic fountain of the legend, Jesus becomes to each what each most desires.

How does He become ours? The paradox of buying with what is not money is meant, by its very appearance of contradiction, to put in strongest fashion that the possession of Him depends on nothing in us but the sense of need and the willingness to accept. We buy Christ when we part with self, which is all that we have, in order to win Him. We must be full of conscious emptiness and desire, if we are to be filled with His fulness. Jesus interpreted the meaning of ‘come to the waters’ when He said, ‘He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.’ Faith is coming, faith is drinking, faith is buying.

The universal call, with is clear setting forth of blessing and conditions of possessing, is followed by a pleading remonstrance as to the folly of lavishing effort and money on what is not bread. It is strange that men will cheerfully take more pains to continue thirsty than to accept the satisfaction which God provides. They toil and continue unsatisfied. Experience does not teach them, and all the while the one real good is waiting to be theirs for nothing.

‘‘Tis heaven alone that is given away;

‘Tis only God may be had for the asking.’

Christ goes a-begging, and we spend our strength in vain toil to acquire what we turn away from when it is offered us in Him. When the great Father offers bread for nothing, we will not have it, but we are ready to give any price for a stone. It is not the wickedness, but the folly, of unbelief, which is the marvel.

The contrast between the heavy price at which men buy hunger, and the easy rate at which they may have full satisfaction, is further set forth by the call to ‘incline the ear,’ which is all that is needed in order that life and nourishment which delights the soul may be ours. ‘Hearken, and eat’ is equivalent to ‘Hearken, and ye shall eat.’ The real ‘good’ for man is only to be found in listening to and obeying the divine voice, whether it sound in invitation, promise, or command. The true life of the soul lies in that listening receptiveness which takes for one’s own God’s great gift of Christ, and yields glad obedience to His every word.

The exiled Israel was promised an ‘everlasting covenant’ as the result of their acceptance of the invitation; and we know whose blood it is that has sealed the new covenant, which abides as long as Christ’s fulness and men’s need shall last. That covenant, of which we seldom hear in Isaiah, but which fills a prominent place in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, is further explained as being ‘the sure mercies of David.’ This phrase and its context are difficult, but the general meaning is clear. The great promises of God’s unfailing mercy, made to the historical founder of the royal house, shall be transferred and continued, with inviolable faithfulness, to those who drink of the gift of God.

This parallel between the great King and the whole mass of the true Israel is further set forth in Isa_55:4-5. Each begins with ‘Behold,’ and the similar form indicates similarity in contents. The son of Jesse was in some degree God’s witness to the heathen nations, as is expressed in several psalms; and, what he was imperfectly, the ransomed Israel would be to the world. The office of the Christian Church is to draw nations that it knew not, to follow in the blessed path, in which it has found satisfaction and the dawnings of a more than natural glory transfiguring it. They who have themselves drunk of the unfailing fountain in Christ are thereby fitted and called to cry to others, ‘Come ye to the waters.’ Experience of Christ’s preciousness, and of the rest of soul which comes from partaking of His salvation, impels and obliges to call others to share the bliss.

II. The second part of the chapter begins with an urgent call to repentance, based upon the difference between God’s ways and man’s, and on the certainty that the divine promises will be fulfilled. The summons in Isa_55:6-7 is first couched in most general terms, which are then more closely defined. To ‘seek the Lord’ is to direct conduct and heart to obtain possession of God as one’s own. Of that seeking, the chief element is calling upon Him; since such is His desire to be found of us that it only needs our asking in order to receive. As surely as the mother hears her child’s cry, so surely does He catch the faintest voice addressed to Him. But, men being what they are, a change of ways and of their root in thoughts is indispensable. Seeking which is not accompanied by forsaking self and an evil past is no genuine seeking, and will end in no finding. But this forsaking is only one side of true repentance; the other is return to God, as is expressed in the New Testament word for it, which implies a change of mind, purpose, and conduct. The faces which were turned earthward and averted from God are to be turned God-ward and diverted from earth. Whosoever thus seeks may be confident of finding and of abundant pardon. The belief in God’s loving forgivingness is the strongest motive to repentance, and the most melting argument to listen to the call to seek Him. But there is another motive of a more awful kind; namely, the consideration that the period of mercy is limited, and that a time may come, and that soon, when God no longer ‘may be found’ nor ‘is near.’

The need for such a radical change in conduct and mind is further enforced, in Isa_55:8-9, by the emphatic statement of present discord between the exiled Israel and God. Mark that the deepest seat of the discord is first dealt with, and then the manifestation of it in active life. Mark also that the order of comparison is inverted in the two successive clauses in Isa_55:8. God’s thoughts have not entered into Israel’s mind and become theirs. The ‘thinkings’ not being regulated according to God’s truth, nor the desires and sentiments brought into accord with His will and mind, a contrariety of ‘ways’ must follow, and the paths which men choose for themselves cannot run parallel with God’s, nor be pleasing to Him. Therefore the stringent urgency of the call to forsake ‘the crooked, wandering ways in which we live,’ and to come back to the path of righteousness which is traced by God for our feet.

But divergence which necessitates repentance is not the only relation between our ways and God’s. There is elevation, transcendency, like that of the eternal heavens, high, boundless, the home of light, the storehouse of beneficent influences which fertilise. If we think of the dreary, flat plains where the exiles were, and the magnificent sweep of the sky over them, we shall feel the beauty of the figure. If ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts’ was all that was to be said, repentance would be of little use, and there would be little to encourage to it; but if God’s thoughts of love and ways of blessing arch themselves above our low lives as the sky bends, pitying and bestowing, above squalor, barrenness, and darkness, then penitence is not in vain, and the low earth may be visited with gifts from the highest heaven.

The certainty that such gifts will be bestowed is the last thought of this magnificent summons. The prophet dilates on that assurance to the end of the chapter. He seems to catch fire, as it were, from the introduction of that grand figure of the lofty heavens domed above the flat earth. In effect, what he says is: They are high and inaccessible, but think what pours down from them, and how all fertility depends on their gifts of rain and snow, and how the moisture which they drop is turned into ‘seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.’ Thinking of that continuous benefaction and miracle, we should see in it a symbol of the better gifts from the higher heavens. So does God’s word come down from His throne. So does it turn barrenness into nodding harvest. So does it quicken undreamed of powers of fruitfulness in human nature and among the forces of the world. So does it supply nourishment for hungry souls, and germs which shall bear fruit in coming years. No complicated machinery nor the most careful culture can work what the gentle dropping rain effects. There is mightier force in it than in many thunder-clouds. The gospel does with ease and in silence what nothing else can do. It makes barren souls fruitful in all good works, and in all happiness worthy of men. Therefore the summons to drink of the

springing fountain and to turn from evil ways and thoughts is recommended by the assurance that God’s word is faithful, and all His promises firm.

The final verses (Isa_55:12-13) give the glowing picture of the return from exile amid the jubilation of a transformed world, as the strongest motive to the obedient hearkening to God’s voice, to which the chapter has summoned, and as the great instance of God’s keeping His word.

The flight from Egypt was ‘in haste’ (Deu_16:3); but this shall be a triumphal exodus, without conflict or alarms. All nature shall participate in the joy. Mountains and hills shall raise the shrill note of rejoicing, and the trees wave their branches, as if clapping hands in delight. This is more than mere poetic rhetoric. A redeemed humanity implies a glorified world. Nature has been involved in the consequences of sin, and will share in the results of redemption, and have some humble reflected light from ‘the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.’

The fulfilment of this final promise is not yet. All earlier returns of the exiled Israel from the Babylon of their bondage to God and the city of God, such as the historical one which the prophet foretold, and the spiritual one which is repeated age by age in the history of the Christian Church and of single penitent souls, point on to that last triumphant day when ‘the ransomed of the Lord shall return,’ and the world be transfigured to match the glory that they inherit. That fair world without poison or offence, and the nations of the saved who inhabit its peaceful spaces, shall be, in the fullest stretch of the words, ‘to the Lord for a name, and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.’ The redemption of man and his establishing amid the felicities of a state correspondent to His God-given glory shall be to all eternity and to all possible creations the highest evidence of what God is, and His token to all beings.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare.

1.BARNES, “Wherefore do ye spend money - Margin, ‘Weigh.’ That is, in Hebrew, ‘weigh silver.’ Before money was coined, the precious metals were weighed, and hence, to make a payment is represented as weighing out silver Gen_23:16.

For that which is not bread - The idea here is, that people are endeavoring to purchase happiness, and are disappointed. Bread is the support of life; it is therefore emblematic of whatever contributes to support and comfort. And in regard to the pursuit of happiness in the pleasures of life, and in ambition, vanity, and vice, people are as much disappointed, as he would be who should spend his money, and procure nothing that would sustain life.

And your labor for that which satisfieth not - You toil, and expend the avails of your labor for that which does not produce satisfaction. What a striking description of the condition of the world! The immortal mind will not be satisfied with wealth, pleasure, or honor. It never has been. Where is the man who is satisfied with his wealth, and who says it is enough? Where is there one who is satisfied with pleasure, and vanity, and gaiety? There is a void in the heart which these things do not, cannot fill. There is a consciousness that the soul was made for higher and nobler purposes, and that nothing but God can meet its boundless desires. Where is the man who has ever been satisfied with ambition? Alexander wept on the throne of the world; and though Diocletian and Charles V descended voluntarily from the throne to private life, it was because there was nothing in royalty to satisfy the soul, and not because they found happiness enough there. There never was a more simple and true description of this whole world than in this expression of Isaiah, that people are spending their money and their labor for that which satisfieth not.

Hearken diligently unto me - The idea is, that by attending to his words and embracing his offers, they would find that without money or price which they were vainly seeking at so much expense and with so much toil.

And eat ... - The prophet here returns to the image in the former verse. They were invited to partake of that which would nourish the soul, and which would fill it with joy.

And let your soul delight itself in fatness - ‘Fatness in the Scriptures is used to denote the richest food Gen_27:28-39; Job_36:16; Psa_65:11, and hence, is an emblem of the rich and abundant blessings resulting from the favor of God Psa_36:9; Psa_63:5.

2. CLARKE, “Wherefore do ye spend - Why should ye be so zealously attached to a doctrine from which your souls derive neither comfort nor nourishment?

3. GILL, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?.... Lavish away time, opportunities, and strength, in reading and hearing false doctrine, which is not bread, but chaff; is not wholesome, does not nourish, but is harmful and destructive; eats as does a canker, instead of feeding and refreshing; such as the vain philosophy of the Gentiles, the traditions of the Jews, and the errors and heresies of false teachers: and your labour for that which satisfieth not? labouring to seek for happiness in worldly things, which is not to be had; or to obtain righteousness by the works of the law, which is not to be attained to in that way; all such labour is in vain, no satisfaction is enjoyed, nor peace and comfort had, nor any solid food; these are husks which swine eat: hearken diligently unto me; not the prophet, but the Lord himself. The Targum renders it, "my Word;''

the essential Word, Christ Jesus, hearken to his doctrine, which is bread, and of a satisfying nature: and eat ye that which is good; not the law, as the Jewish commentators; but the good word of God, the Gospel, which being found and eaten by faith, or mixed with faith by them that hear it, and so digested, is the joy and rejoicing of the heart: and let your soul delight itself in fatness; in the goodness and fatness of the Lord's house, attending on the word and ordinances with spiritual pleasure and delight; and which is the way to become fat and flourishing in spiritual things; see Psa_36:8.

4. HENRY, “That which we are persuaded to is to hearken to God and to his proposals: “Hearken diligently unto me, Isa_55:2. Not only give me the hearing, but approve of what I say, and apply it to yourselves (Isa_55:3): Incline your ear, as you do to that which you find yourselves concerned in and pleased with; bow the ear, and let the proud heart stoop to the humbling methods of the gospel; bend the ear this way, that you may hear with attention and remark; hear, and come unto me; not only come and treat with me, but comply with me, come up to my terms;” accept God's offers as very advantageous; answer his demands as very fit and reasonable.

2. The arguments used to persuade us to this are taken,

(1.) From the unspeakable wrong we do to ourselves if we neglect and refuse this invitation: “Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, which will not yield you, no, not beggar's food, dry bread, when with me you may have wine and milk without money? Wherefore do you spend your labour and toil for that which will not be so much as dry bread to you, for it satisfies not?” See here, [1.] The vanity of the things of this world. They are not bread, not proper food for a soul; they afford no suitable nourishment or refreshment. Bread is the staff of the natural life, but it affords no support at all to the spiritual life. All the wealth and pleasure in the world will not make one meal's meat for a soul. Eternal truth and eternal good are the only food for a rational and immortal soul, the life of which consists in reconciliation and conformity to God, and in union and communion with him, which the things of the world will not at all befriend. They satisfy not; they yield not any solid comfort and content to the soul, nor enable it to say, “Now I have what I would have.” Nay, they do not satisfy even the appetites of the body. The more men have the more they would have, Ecc_1:8. Haman was unsatisfied in the midst of his abundance. They flatter, but they do not fill; they please for a while, like the dream of a hungry man, who awakes and his soul is empty. They soon surfeit, but they never satisfy; they cloy a man, but do not content him, or make him truly easy. It is all vanity and vexation. [2.] The folly of the children of this world. They spend their money and labour for these uncertain unsatisfying things. Rich people live by their money, poor people by their labour; but both mistake their truest interest, while the one is trading, the other toiling, for the world, both promising themselves satisfaction and happiness in it, but both miserably disappointed. God vouchsafes compassionately to reason with them: “Wherefore do you thus act against your own interest? Why do you suffer yourselves to be thus imposed upon?” Let us reason with ourselves, and let the result of these reasonings be a holy resolution not to labour for the meat that perishes, but for that which endures to everlasting life, Joh_6:27. Let all the disappointments we meet with in the world help to drive us to Christ, and lead us to seek for satisfaction in him only. This is the way to make sure which will be made sure.

(2.) From the unspeakable kindness we do to ourselves if we accept this invitation and comply with it. [1.] hereby we secure to ourselves present pleasure and satisfaction: “If you hearken to Christ, you eat that which is good, which is both wholesome and pleasant, good in itself and

good for you.” God's good word and promise, a good conscience, and the comforts of God's good Spirit, are a continual feast to those that hearken diligently and obediently to Christ. Their souls shall delight themselves in fatness, that is, in the riches and most grateful delights. Here the invitation is not, “Come, and buy,” lest that should discourage, but, “Come, and eat; come and entertain yourselves with that which will be abundantly pleasing; eat, O friends!” It is sad to think that men should need to be courted thus to their own bliss. [2.] Hereby we secure to ourselves lasting happiness: “Hear, and your soul shall live; you shall not only be saved from perishing eternally, but you shall be eternally blessed:” for less than that cannot be the life of an immortal soul. The words of Christ are spirit and life, life to spirits (Joh_6:33, Joh_6:63), the words of this life, Act_5:20. On what easy terms is happiness offered to us! It is but “Hear, and you shall live.” [3.] The great God graciously secures all this to us: “Come to me, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, will put myself into covenant-relations and under covenant-engagements to you, and thereby settle upon you the sure mercies of David.” Note, First, If we come to God to serve him, he will covenant with us to do us good and make us happy; such are his condescension to us and concern for us. Secondly, God's covenant with us is an everlasting covenant - its contrivance from everlasting, its continuance to everlasting. Thirdly, The benefits of this covenant are mercies suited to our case, who, being miserable, are the proper objects of mercy. They come from God's mercy, and are ordered every way in kindness to us. Fourthly, They are the mercies of David, such mercies as God promised to David (Psa_89:28, Psa_89:29, etc.), which are called the mercies of David his servant, and are appealed to by Solomon, 2Ch_6:42. It shall be a covenant as sure as that with David, Jer_33:25, Jer_33:26. The covenant of royalty was a figure of the covenant of grace, 2Sa_23:5. Or, rather, by David here we are to understand the Messiah. Covenant-mercies are all his mercies; they are purchased by him; they are promised in him; they are treasured up in his hand, and out of his hand they are dispensed to us. He is the Mediator and trustee of the covenant; to him this is applied, Act_13:34. They are

the ta�hosia (the word used there, and by the Septuagint here) - the holy things of David, for they are confirmed by the holiness of God (Psa_89:35) and are intended to advance holiness among men. Fifthly, They are sure mercies. The covenant, being well-ordered in all things, is sure. It is sure in the general proposal of it; God is real and sincere, serious and in earnest, in the offer of these mercies. It is sure in the particular application of it to believers; God's gifts and callings are without repentance. They are the mercies of David, and therefore sure, for in Christ the promises are all yea and amen.

5. JAMISON, “not bread — (Hab_2:13). “Bread of deceit” (Pro_20:17). Contrast this with the “bread of life” (Joh_6:32, Joh_6:35; also Luk_14:16-20).

satisfieth not — (Ecc_1:8; Ecc_4:8).

hearken ... and eat — When two imperatives are joined, the second expresses the consequence of obeying the command in the first (Gen_42:18). By hearkening ye shall eat. So in Isa_55:1, “buy and eat.” By buying, and so making it your own, ye shall eat, that is, experimentally enjoy it (Joh_6:53). Compare the invitation (Pro_9:5, Pro_9:6; Mat_22:4).

fatness — (Psa_36:8; Psa_63:5).

6. SBC, “We have here an invitation, addressed to us by Jehovah Himself, to hearken diligently unto Him, to incline our ear, and to come to Him. There is something peculiarly touching in the invitations of the Word of God, which, if men would but pause and reflect, could not fail to make an impression upon their hearts. "Hearken diligently unto Me," God says; "incline your ear." He

would take you, as it were, each one separately by himself, and reason and counsel with you. The matters of which He would treat with you are too important to be handled in a crowd, too sacred to be discussed amid the noise and bustle of worldly avocations. The Lord will have sinners come to Him; He will have all distance annihilated between your souls and Him; He will have you brought into the closest relationship and communion with Himself; He will have you not only within hearing of His voice, but in His very embrace.

II. The reasons for our closing with this invitation are two, and each of them is very weighty. (1) You will be vast gainers if you follow the leadings of the Divine Spirit, and go into conference with God, and embrace His terms. "Hear, and your soul shall delight itself in fatness; hear, and your soul shall live." The life of the believer is the only life of real enjoyment upon earth. What will it be when he dwells with God Himself? (2) To refuse the offer is to lose the soul. "He that sowed to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption," and that for ever. He who will not embrace Christ must stand before God with all his guilt upon his head—guilt that cannot then be pardoned; for there remaineth now no more sacrifice for sin.

A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons, p. 472.

7. CALVIN. “2.Wherefore do ye spend money? (76) He complains of the ingratitude and madness of

men, in rejecting or disdaining the kindness of God who offers all things freely, and yet harassing

themselves greatly about various trifles which cannot yield them any advantage. Men are so enchanted

by the devil, that they choose rather to wander through deserts, and to vex themselves in vain, than to

rely on the grace which God offers to them. The experience of the present age abundantly shows that the

Prophet not only expostulated with his own nation, but exclaimed against all men, to whatever age they

might belong; for all the posterity of Adam have been seized with such madness that, in seeking the road

to a heavenly life, (77) they altogether go astray, and follow their own vain opinions rather than the voice

of God.

The Prophet does not complain of the slothfulness of those who, altogether forgetful of themselves and of

God, take no concern about the spiritual life of the soul; (there are many such persons;) but of those who

desire life, and yet do not understand the method or way of obtaining it, and wander in uncertainty

through deserts and untrodden paths. Here, therefore, are condemned all the methods which men

contrive, in opposition to the Word of God, for obtaining salvation, and they are pronounced to be useless

expenses; for by the word “” he denotes all the industry, study, or labor which belongs to man. Not that

God values a single farthing all our idle attempts to worship him, but because labors foolishly undertaken

are reckoned valuable by the judgment of the flesh.

And your labor, not so as to be satisfied. We see that by the word “” is here meant the same as was

formerly meant by “” and that he gives the name “” to that which he formerly called “” As if he had said, “

toil without any advantage; for, when they follow their own inventions, however eagerly they may vex and

weary themselves, they have no right to expect any reward.” Thus he affirms that they who labor in an

inconsiderate manner cannot “ satisfied;“ for they who forsake God, and attempt new methods of

salvation, can never “ satisfied.” “ feed on wind,” as Hosea says. (Hos_12:1) They may, indeed, imagine

that they are full, when they are swelled with vain confidence, but are like persons who, in consequence

of being swollen with wind, do not perceive their hunger. Yet it would be better for them to be sore

pressed by hunger and thirst, that it might lead them to call on the Lord with earnestness of heart, as it is

said in the Psalm, “ soul is as a thirsty land before thee.” (Psa_143:6) But bread alone, or water alone,

would not be enough to “” and by neither of them could life be supported; and that is the reason why the

Prophet has made use of a variety of terms, in order to show that the Lord abundantly supplies everything

that is necessary for life, that we may not think that we ought to seek aid from any other quarter.

Hear ye by hearing me. (78) Because every person is led into error by his own counsel, and all who

neglect God vanish away in wicked imaginations, the Prophet here adds the remedy, which is, that we

must depend entirely on the mouth of God. Whoever shall submit to his word will have no reason to fear

that he shall spend his strength on things of no value. Here we see the amazing goodness of God, who

offers his grace to men, though they are unthankful and unworthy.

But he adds the condition; for there is no way by which we can enter into life but by “” him; and as the

cause of our destruction is, that we are deaf to the voice of God, so the road to life is open, if we lend our

ears to him. (79) In order to make a deeper impression upon us, he repeats the same admonition, and

doubles the same word, “ ye by hearing;“ and, in order to draw us more gently, he solemnly declares that

it depends entirely on ourselves whether or not he will “” us even to fullness with all abundance of

blessings.

(76) “ Hebrews Weigh.” (Eng. Ver.) “ the first clause there is reference to the primitive custom of weighing

instead of counting money, from which have arisen several of the most familiar denominations, such as

the Hebrew ‘’ the Greek ‘’ the French ‘’ and the English ‘’ The essential idea here is that of paying.” -

Alexander.

(77) “En cherchant le chemin de vie eternelle.” “ seeking the road to eternal life.”

(78) “ diligently unto me.” Eng. Ver.

8. CHARLES SIMEON, “EXHORTATION TO RECEIVE THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL

Isa_55:1-3.—Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye,

buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend

money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto

me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come

unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure

mercies of David.

WE can never sufficiently admire the condescension and grace of God in noticing such insignificant and

worthless creatures as we are. That he should provide for our returning wants, and permit us to ask of

him the things we stand in need of, may well excite our deepest astonishment. But that he should be as

much interested in our welfare, as if his own happiness and glory depended on it, seems utterly

incredible: yet, that this is really the case, is manifest from the earnest invitations and entreaties, which he

uses to prevail upon us to accept of mercy. In confirmation of this, we need only notice the passage

before us, in which God, with inexpressible affection, labours to awaken the attention of sinners to their

own truest happiness, and to bring them to the enjoyment of everlasting salvation.

In his words we may observe,

I. An invitation—

No words could be devised that should more forcibly declare God’s desire for our welfare—

[The blessings of the Gospel are here set forth under the most natural and expressive images. What can

be more refreshing than water? more reviving than wine? more nutritious than milk? yet do these but

faintly represent the operations of the Gospel on the soul of man. Nor can water or milk be by any means

dispensed with; they are altogether necessary for human subsistence: so that on this account also are

they fit emblems of spiritual blessings. What would be the state of man if there were no Saviour to atone

for him, no Spirit to renew him, no God and Father to preserve and bless him? On the contrary, how

revived and animated is he by the promises of pardon and peace, of holiness and glory! Such then are

the blessings which God offers to mankind. And to a participation of them he invites every one that

thirsteth: every person, whatever have been his character or conduct, is called: if only he thirst, nothing

shall be a bar to his acceptance. Yet no man needs to decline the invitation, under the idea that he is not

welcome, because he does not thirst enough: if he be willing, that is sufficient [Note: So St. John

expounds the passage, Rev_22:17.]. Nor need any one he discouraged at the thought that he has

nothing wherewith to purchase these benefits: for though they are to be bought, it is “without money and

without price;” and therefore they “who have no money” are particularly specified in the invitation. Indeed,

if any man bring a price in his hand, he shall surely go empty away: Christ has paid the price; nor can we

obtain any thing, unless we be willing to receive it as the free gift of God through Christ.

The earnestness with which God entreats us to accept these blessings, is well worthy of our notice. He

personates a herald standing in the place of public concourse, and, in the accustomed manner, calling

the attention of all around him. He then expatiates on the blessings which he is ready to communicate,

and the terms on which he will bestow them: he describes the persons to whose necessities the blessings

are suited, and to whose indigence the terms are more especially adapted: and then, as though he were

determined to take no refusal, he cries, “Come,” “come,” “come!”]

And shall we despise such a gracious invitation?

[Let us but contemplate the blessings we are invited to partake of: how rich, how suitable, how necessary!

— — — Let us reflect on the terms on which they are offered: can any thing be more reviving? — — —

Let us recollect who it is that calls us: Is he used to mock his people? or is he incapable of supplying all

their wants? — — — Let us consider his description of the persons invited: can any thing be more

encouraging? and shall we not be inexcusable if we turn a deaf ear to such entreaties? — — —]

But God, knowing our extreme backwardness to go to him, urges us yet further by,

II. An expostulation—

Our infatuation justly calls for a severe reproof—

[The contemners of God’s invitations may be comprised under two classes, the worldly-minded, and the

self-righteous. Both of these despise the offers of the Gospel; the one, because they have no relish for

spiritual things; the other, because they think they already possess them: the one find their happiness in

the pursuit and enjoyment of earthly things; the other in self-applauding reflections on their own

goodness. But we may appeal to both, whether they have ever attained any abiding satisfaction in their

respective courses? Have pleasures, riches, or honours ever proved a source of solid peace? Are they

“bread” proper for the soul? Does not the comfort, derived from such things, fail us in the hour that we

most need it? And will any satisfaction arise from the remembrance of them, when we stand at the bar of

judgment? Nor however laudable the conduct of the self-righteous may be in the sight of men, can it yield

them the comfort they aspire after: it cannot satisfy either God or their own consciences; not God,

because it does not fulfil the demands of his Law; not themselves, because they never can know that they

have done enough to procure them acceptance with God: in the midst of all their boasted confidence,

they have many misgiving fears lest they should have laboured for nought, and “spent their money for

that which is not bread.”

To impress this thought on our minds, God contrasts the blessings ho offers with those which we foolishly

prefer. He calls them “good,” and declares that they will “delight the soul with fatness.” And are they

not good? What so worthy of this character, as a free and full pardon to the guilty; a peace that passeth

all understanding to the troubled; renewed strength to the weak; and everlasting glory to the lost? Can

these be received into the soul, and not comfort it? or can they be promised to us by a faithful God, and

not satisfy the mind? Surely they are “meat indeed, and drink indeed;” nor can they fail of filling us with

“joy unspeakable and glorified.”]

Let us then call ourselves to an account for our conduct—

[Who amongst us has not had abundant experience of the insufficiency of every thing except the Gospel,

to make us happy? And shall we yet persist in our error? shall we never cease to “hew out to ourselves

broken cisterns,” when we may have access to “the fountain of living waters?” shall we still grasp at a

shadow, while we lose the substance? — — — “Wherefore” act we thus? What reason can we assign to

ourselves for such obstinacy? and what shall we assign to God, when he shall interrogate us respecting it

in the day of judgment? shall we plead a want of information? God has informed us. Shall we say that the

blessings of salvation were out of our reach? God has freely offered them to every one of us: nor can any

thing but a deliberate rejection of his mercy ever finally destroy us — — —]

Lest any thing should be wanting to affect our hearts, God confirms his invitation with,

III. A promise—

There is not any thing which God will not do for those who obey his call—

[Whatever a carnal man may enjoy, he has no right or title to eternal life. On the contrary, whatever a

spiritual man may want, this privilege he shall assuredly possess, “his soul shall live.” Nor shall this life be

terminated like the life of the body; for God will make a covenant with him, “an everlasting covenant,” a

“covenant ordered in all things and sure;” so that every thing necessary for the maintaining and perfecting

of this life shall be secured to him. And as the rather gave unto his Son “the sure mercies of David” by

raising him from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand in heaven [Note: Act_13:34.], so will he

bestow on his believing people every thing that he ever promised unto his Church. Notwithstanding he

may suffer them for a time to be reduced to a most forlorn and desperate condition, as was the state of

Christ when enclosed in the tomb, his mercies shall be “sure” to all his seed, and every soul amongst

them shall in due season be exalted to a throne of glory in heaven.

Lest we should still remain unmoved, God calls our attention to this promise, repeating his entreaties with

all the energy and affection that words can express. “Hearken,” says he, ‘as to a distant sound which you

are solicitous to hear: hearken “diligently,” not suffering any thing to divert your attention for one moment:

“incline your ear” as one that is afraid of losing a single word that is spoken to him: “hear,” determining to

judge with candour, and to follow the dictates of sound wisdom. Do this,’ says God, ‘and the promise shall

be yours: I pledge myself by covenant and by oath that your soul shall live, and that nothing that is good

shall be wanting to you either in time or in eternity.’]

How incurably obstinate then must we be, if such accumulated means be used in vain!

[Is the life of the soul a matter of such indifference, that a promise of it shall have no effect on our minds?

Shall God engage himself to us by covenant and by oath to supply all our need both of body and soul,

and shall we account his word unworthy of our attention? — — — Who ever experienced his blessings,

and found them of no value? or whom has he ever deceived, that we dare not trust him? — — — Let us

at least remember what an alternative we prefer; we reject life, and happiness, and glory, and embrace

death and misery as our eternal portion — — — O that God might prevail at last! that we might now

accept his gracious offers; and be made partakers of present and everlasting felicity!]

3 Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

1.BARNES, “Hear, and your soul shall live - That is, if you attend to my command and embrace my promises, you shall live. Religion in the Scriptures is often represented as life Joh_5:40; Joh_6:33; Joh_8:13; Joh_20:31; Rom_5:17-18; Rom_6:4; Rom_8:6; 1Jo_5:12; Rev_2:7-10. It stands opposed to the death of sin - to spiritual and eternal death.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - On the word ‘covenant,’ see the notes at Isa_28:18; Isa_42:6; Isa_49:8. Here it means that God would bind himself to be their God, their protector, and their friend. This covenant would be made with all who would come to him. It would not be with the nation of the Jews, as such, or with any community, as such, but it would be with all who should embrace the offers of life and salvation.

Even the sure mercies of David - I will confirm to you, and fulfill in you, the solemn promises made to David. The transaction here referred to is that which is celebrated in Psa_89:2-4 :

For I have said, mercy shall be built up forever;

Thy faithfulness hast thou established in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, And build up thy throne to all generations.

A kingdom had thus been promised to David, and he had been assured that the true religion should flourish among those who were to succeed him in Israel. The prophet here says that this solemn promise. would be fulfilled in those who should embrace the Messiah, and that God

would ratify with them this covenant. The word rendered here ‘mercies’ (חסד chesed), properly means kindness, goodwill, pity, compassion; then goodness, mercy, grace. The word rendered ‘sure,’ denotes that which is established, or confirmed; that in which confidence may be placed. The whole expression denotes that the covenant made with David was one which promised great favors, and was one which was not to be abrogated, but which was to be perpetual. With all who embraced the Messiah, God would enter into such an unchanging and unwavering covenant - a covenant which was not to be revoked.

2. CLARKE, “I will make an everlasting covenant - Hebrews עולם�ברית�לכם�אכרתה

echrethah�lachem�berith�olam, “I will cut the old or everlasting covenant sacrifice with you.” That

covenant sacrifice which was pointed out of old from the very beginning; and which is to last to the consummation of ages; viz., the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world.

The sure mercies of David - That is, says Kimchi, “The Messiah,” called here David; as it is written, “David my servant shall be a prince over you.”

3. GILL, “Incline your ear, and come unto me,.... The exhortations are repeated, to show the importance of them, how welcome these persons were to the Lord, and to his house, and his earnest and tender care and concern for them: hear, and your soul shall live; or, "that your soul may live (f)"; spiritually and eternally. There must be life before hearing; men must be made alive before they can come to Christ spiritually, or hear his word so as to have a spiritual understanding of it, or savingly believe it; but the meaning is, that by coming and hearing the word of the Lord, they should have something to live upon, good, solid, substantial food; and that they should live comfortably and plentifully, and that for ever. It was reckoned a great absurdity in Sunlungus, a Chinese philosopher, who asserted (g) that a man had three ears, one different from the two that are seen; it is true in a spiritual sense. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you; which is to be understood not of the covenant of works, nor of the covenant of circumcision, nor of the Sinai covenant; but of the covenant of grace, which is an "everlasting one"; it is from everlasting, being founded in the everlasting love of God, is according to his eternal purposes; Christ is the Mediator of it, who as such was set up from everlasting, and the promises and blessings of it were so early put into his hands; and it will continue to everlasting, sure, firm, unalterable, and immovable. This, properly

speaking, was made with Christ from all eternity, and his people in him; it is made manifest to them at conversion, when they are shown it, and their interest in it; when God makes himself known to them as their covenant God, and Christ as the Mediator of it is revealed to them; when the Lord puts his Spirit into them, and makes them partakers of the grace of it; shows them their interest in the blessings of it, and opens and applies the promises of it unto them; and these are made manifest in the ministration of the Gospel, and in the administration of ordinances: even "the sure mercies of David"; that is, the Messiah, the son of David, and his antitype, whence he is often called by his name, Eze_34:23, and so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others (h), interpret it. The blessings of the covenant are called "mercies", because they spring from the mercy of God, as redemption, pardon of sin, regeneration, salvation, and eternal life; and they are the mercies of David, or of Christ, for the promises of them were made to him, and the things themselves put into his hands, and are ratified and confirmed by his blood, and through him come to his people: and these are "sure", firm, and steadfast, through the faithfulness and holiness of God, who has given them to Christ; through being in a covenant ordered in all things and sure; and also being in the hands of Christ, in whom the promises are yea and amen, and the blessings sure to all the seed; see Act_13:34, Act_13:34.

4. WHEDON, “3. This invitation is followed by a yearning call upon every one to be a partaker in the

whole mass of gospel blessings embraced in thecovenant made with David; a covenant made first with

Abraham, and renewed with David; a covenant promise of Christ in all his humiliations, and ending with a

crowned Christ, a kingly Messiah, exulting in royal victories, and a redeemed, completely redeemed,

Church.

5. JAMISON, “me ... live — by coming to me ye shall live: for “I am the life” (Joh_14:6).

everlasting covenant — (Jer_32:40; 2Sa_23:5).

with you ... David — God’s covenant is with the antitypical David, Messiah (Eze_34:23), and so with us by our identification with Him.

sure — answering to “everlasting,” irrevocable, unfailing, to be relied on (Psa_89:2-4, Psa_89:28, Psa_89:29, Psa_89:34-36; Jer_33:20, Jer_33:21; 2Sa_7:15, 2Sa_7:16; 2Co_1:18-20).

mercies of David — the mercies of grace (Isa_63:7; Joh_1:16) which I covenanted to give to David, and especially to Messiah, his antitype. Quoted in Act_13:34.

6. K&D, “And in this way it is possible to obtain not only the satisfaction of absolute need, but a superabundant enjoyment, and an overflowing fulfilment of the promise. “Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and let your soul revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the true mercies of David. Behold, I have set him as a witness for nations, a prince and commander of nations. Behold, thou wilt call a mass of people that thou knowest not; and a mass of people that knoweth thee not will hasten to thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, that He hath made thee glorious.” The expression “make a

covenant” (ka�rath berıth) is not always applied to a superior in relation to an inferior (compare,

on the contrary, Ezr_10:3); but here the double-sided idea implied in pactio is confined to one side alone, in the sense of a spontaneous sponsio having all the force of a covenant (Isa_61:8;

compare 2Ch_7:18, where ka�rath by itself signifies “to promise with the force of a covenant”),

and also of the offer of a covenant or anticipated conclusion of a covenant, as in Eze_34:25, and

in the case before us, where “the true mercies of David” are attached to the idea of offering or granting involved in the expression, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you,” as a more precise definition of the object. All that is required on the part of Israel is hearing, and coming, and taking: let it do this, and it will be pervaded by new life; and Jehovah will meet with with an everlasting covenant, viz., the unchangeable mercies of David. Our interpretation of this must be dependent chiefly upon whether Isa_55:4 is regarded as looking back to the history of David, or looking forward to something future. In the latter case we are either to understand by “David” the second David (according to Hos_3:5; Jer_30:9; Eze_34:24), so that the allusion is to the mercies granted in the Messiah, and according to Isa_9:7, enduring “from henceforth even for ever;” or else David is the son of Jesse, and “the mercies of David” are the mercies bestowed upon him, which are called “the true mercies” as mercies promised and running into the future (Psa_89:50; 2Ch_6:42), in which case Isa_55:4 explains what David will become in the person of his antitype the second David. The directly Messianic application of the name “David” is to be objected to, on the ground that the Messiah is never so called without further remark; whilst the following objections may be adduced to the indirectly Messianic interpretation of Isa_55:4 (David in the Messiah). (1.) The change of the tense in Isa_55:4, Isa_55:5, which requires that we should assume that Isa_55:4 points backwards into the past, and Isa_55:5 forwards into the future.

(Note: F. Philippi observes that הן, which refers to the future in Isa_55:5 at any rate, must

be taken as referring to the same sphere of time as that which immediately precedes. But he;n in Isaiah points sometimes backwards (Isa_50:1; Isa_64:4), sometimes forwards; and where two follow one another, of which the one points backwards and the other forwards, the former is followed by the perfect, the latter by the future (Isa_50:1-2). But if they both point to the future, the future tense is used in both instances (Isa_50:9). A better argument in

favour of the prophetic interpretation of Isa_55:4 might be drawn from the fact that הן נת>י may mean “I give (set, lay, or make) even now” (e.g., Jer_1:9). But what we have said above is sufficient proof that this is not the meaning here (if this were the meaning, we should

rather expect הן נת>יו).)

(2.) That the choice of the expression in Isa_55:4, Isa_55:5 is designed to represent what Israel has to look for in the future as going beyond what was historically realized in David; for in Isa_55:5 the mass of the heathen world, which has hitherto stood out of all relation to Israel,

answers to the םלא?י . (3.) That the juxtaposition of the Messiah and Israel would be altogether

without parallel in these prophecies (chapters 40-66), and contrary to their peculiar character; for the earlier stereotype idea of the Messiah is here resolved into the idea of the “servant of Jehovah,” from which it returns again to its primary use, i.e., from the national basis to the individual, by means of the ascending variations through which this expression passes, and thus reaches a more comprehensive, spiritual, and glorified form. The personal “servant of Jehovah” is undoubtedly no other than the “Son of David” of the earlier prophecy; but the premises, from which we arrive at this conclusion in connection with our prophet, are not that the “servant of Jehovah” is of the seed of David and the final personal realization of the promise of a future king, but that he is of the nation of Israel, and the final personal realization of the idea of Israel, both in its inward nature, and in its calling in relation to the whole world of nations.

Consequently Isa_55:4 and Isa_55:5 stand to one another in the relation of type and antitype, and the “mercies of David” are called “the true mercies” (Probably with an allusion to 2Sa_7:16; cf., Psa_89:29-30), as being inviolable-mercies which had both been realized in the case of David himself, and would be realized still further, inasmuch as they must endure for an everlasting future, and therefore be further and further fulfilled, until they have reached that lofty height, on the summit of which they will remain unchangeable for ever. It is of David the

son of Jesse that Jehovah says in Isa_55:4, “I have given him for a witness to peoples, a leader

and commander to the peoples.” So far as the sense is concerned, נגיד is as much a construct as

,which never means anything but testis, witness ,עד In the application to David of the term .מצוה

in these prophecies, we may clearly see the bent of the prophet's mind towards what is spiritual. David had subdued nations by the force of arms, but his true and loftiest greatness consisted in the fact that he was a witness of the nations - a witness by the victorious power of his word, the conquering might of his Psalms, the attractive force of his typical life. What he expresses so frequently in the Psalms as a resolution and a vow, viz., that he will proclaim the name of Jehovah among the nations (Psa_18:50; Psa_57:10), he has really fulfilled: he has not only overcome them by bloody warfare, but by the might of his testimony, more especially as “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sa_23:1). What David himself was able to say in Psa_18:43, “People that I did not know served me,” will be fulfilled to a still wider extent in the experience of Israel. Having been presented with the promised “inviolable mercies of David,” it will effect a spiritual conquest over the heathen world, even over that portion which has hitherto stood in no reciprocal relation to it, and gain possession of it for itself for the sake of Jehovah, whom it has

for its God, and to the Holy One of Israel (ל� of the object, in relation to which, or at the

instigation of which, anything is done), because He hath glorified it (His people: ך�פאר� is not a

pausal form for ך�פאר� , cf., Isa_54:6, but for ך�פאר� ך�פGר� , , hence = ך�פאר� , cf., �ך�ענ , Isa_30:19); so that

joining themselves to Israel is the same as joining themselves to God and to the church of the God of revelation (cf., Isa_60:9, where Isa_55:5 is repeated almost word for word).

7. CALVIN. “3.Incline your ear. This assemblage of words makes still more evident what I slightly

mentioned a little before, that God leaves nothing undone which is fitted to correct and arouse our

tardiness. Yet there is an implied reproof; for they must be excessively stupid who, when they are so

gently called, do not instantly obey. This is a remarkable passage, from which we see that our whole

happiness lies in obeying the word of God. When God speaks in this manner, the object which he has in

view is to lead us to life; (80) and therefore the blame lies wholly with ourselves, because we disregard

this saving and life word.

And come unto me. If God only commanded what we ought to do, he would indeed lay down the method

of obtaining life, but without advantage; for the Law, which proceeded from the mouth of God, is the

minister of death; but when he invites us “ himself,” when he adopts us as children, when he promises

pardon of sin and sanctification, the consequence is, that they who hear obtain life from him. We ought,

therefore, to take into view the kind of doctrine which contains life, in order that we may seek our

salvation from it; and hence we infer that there is no hope of salvation if we do not obey God and his

word. This reproves all mankind, so that they can plead no excuse for their ignorance; for he who refuses

to hear can have no solid argument to defend his cause.

These repetitions describe the patience of God in calling us; for he does not merely invite us once, but

when he sees that we are sluggish, he gives a second and even a third warning, in order to conquer our

hardheartedness. Thus he does not all at once reject those who despise him, but after having frequently

invited them.

Besides, this is a description of the nature of faith, when he bids us “ to himself.” We ought to hear the

Lord in such a manner that faith shall follow; for they who by faith receive the word of God have laid aside

their desires and despised the world, and may be said to have broken their chains, so that they readily

and cheerfully “ near to God.” But faith cannot be formed without hearing, (Rom_10:17,) that is, without

understanding the word of God, and so he bids us “” before we “ to him.” Thus, whenever faith is

mentioned, let us remember that it must be joined to the word, in which it has its foundation.

And I will strike a covenant of eternity with you. It is asked, Did not the Jews formerly enter into an

everlasting covenant with God? For he appears to promise something that is new and uncommon. I reply,

nothing new is here promised for which the Lord did not formerly enter into an engagement with his

people; but it is a renewal and confirmation of the covenant, that the Jews might not think that the

covenant of God was made void on account of the long banishment. For when they were banished from

the country that had been promised to them, (81) when they had no temple or sacrifices, or any marks of

the “” except circumcision, who would not have concluded that it was all over with them? This mode of

expression, therefore, Isaiah accommodated to the capacity of the people, that they might know that the

covenant into which God entered with the fathers was firm, sure, and eternal, and not changeable or

temporary.

This is also what he means by the mercies of David, but by this phrase he declares that it was a covenant

of free grace; for it was founded on nothing else than the absolute goodness of God. Whenever,

therefore, the word “” occurs in Scripture, we ought at the same time to call to remembrance the word “”

By calling them “faithful mercies of David,” (82) he declares that he will be faithful in it, and at. the same

time states indirectly that he is faithful and steadfast, and cannot be accused of falsehood, as if he had

broken his covenant; that the Jews, on the other hand, are covenant and traitors, (for they have revolted

from him,) but that he cannot repent of his covenant or his promise.

He calls them “ mercies of David, ” because this covenant, which has now been solemnly confirmed, was

made in the land “ David.” The Lord indeed entered into a covenant with Abraham, (Gen_15:5) afterwards

confirmed it by Moses, (Exo_2:24) and finally ratified this very covenant in the hand of David, that it might

be eternal. (2Sa_7:12) Whenever, therefore, the Jews thought of a Redeemer, that is, of their salvation,

they ought to have remembered “” as a mediator who represented Christ; for David must not here be

regarded as a private individual, but as bearing this title and character. Yet some regard must be had to

the time when this prophecy was uttered; for, since the rank of the kingdom had been obliterated, and the

name of the royal family had become mean and contemptible during the captivity in Babylon, it might

seem as if, through the ruin of that family, the truth of God had fallen into decay; and therefore he bids

them contemplate by faith the throne of David, which had been cast down.

(80) “De nons amener a salut.” “ lead us to salvation.”

(81) “Hors du pays qui leur avoit este promis et donne.” “ of the country, that had been promised and

given to them.”

(82) “ sure mercies of David.” Eng. Ver.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a ruler and commander of the peoples.

1.BARNES, “Behold, I have given him - This is evidently the language of God respecting the Messiah, or of David as representing the Messiah. Rosenmuller supposes that the name David here is used to designate the Messiah, and in support of this appeals to Eze_34:23-24; Eze_37:24-25; Jer_30:9; Hos_3:5. An examination of these passages will show that they all refer to the Messiah by the name of David; and it is morally certain that in the passage before us, the name David Isa_55:3 suggested the Messiah. It seems to me that this is to be regarded as a direct address respecting the Messiah, and that the object of the speaker here is to state a reason why he should be embraced. That reason was that God had constituted him as a leader. The Chaldee renders this, ‘Lo, I have constituted him as a prince to the people, a king and ruler over all kingdoms.’ Kimchi says that it means that the Messiah would be a monitor or a mediator between people and him who would accuse them. Grotius supposes that Jeremiah is intended here; but in that opinion he is destined undoubtedly to stand forever alone. The almost unbroken interpretation, from the earliest times, is that which refers it directly to the Messiah.

For a witness to the people - Noyes renders this, ‘A ruler.’ Rosenmuller, ‘A monitor,’ - one whose office it was publicly to admonish, or reprove others in the presence of witnesses. Jerome

renders it, ‘A witness.’ The Septuagint, Μαρτύριον Marturion - ‘A testimony.’ The Chaldee (רב

rab), ‘A prince.’ The Hebrew word (עד ‛e;d) means properly “a witness” Pro_19:5-9; then

testimony, witness borne Exo_20:13; Deu_5:17; then a prince, chief, lawgiver, commander. Compare the use of the verb in 2Ki_17:13; Psa_50:7; Psa_81:9; Lam_2:13. The parallelism requires us to understand it in this sense here - as one who stood forth to bear solemn testimony in regard to God to his law, and claims, and plans; and one who, therefore, was designated to be the instructor, guide, and teacher of people.

A leader - Chaldee, ‘A king.’ The idea is, that he would sustain the relation of a sovereign. One of the important offices of the Messiah is that of king.

A commander - Or, rather, a lawgiver. He would originate the laws and institutions of his people.

2. WHEDON, “4. Behold — God continues calling attention to the functions of the great Messiah. He

desires the people — all people — to grasp the full idea of Messiah.

I have given him — David, Messiah — type and antitype; David in supreme royalty, king over all foes and friends; Christ in ascended majesty, but dispensing to weak and strong, low and high, the rich blessings in full scope and adaptation which in his redemptive work he has secured for all who will take of them. He is a witness to the people — Better, a monitor, instructor, in all stages; then a leader, commander, and lawgiver; originating laws and institutions for his “people.” As to the idea of “people,” be it ever kept in mind that no race distinctions are allowed, Jew or Gentile is embraced. This is the era of the Gospel, not wholly of schoolmaster training for the Gospel. 5.

Thou — Thou Messiah, or Son of David; the idea of kingly glory in the typical David not being yet dropped.

Shalt call — Or, invite and bring together.

A nation that thou knowest not — That is, the Gentile world, whom he had not hitherto distinguished by covenants of blessing — the Davidic nation being still uppermost in thought.

Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee — Become one with the covenant people; run eagerly, on knowing of thee more particularly; as indeed, in early gospel preaching, they did so run.

Because of the Lord thy God — And all this, because agreeing to the spirit of his everlasting covenant. Psalms 2; Acts 3:13.

3. GILL, “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people,.... That is, the Messiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech rightly interpret it. This respects an act past in eternity, in God's eternal purposes and decrees, when he appointed Christ to the office of a Mediator; and this was an act of his grace, a free gift of his, flowing from his love to his people, both Jews and Gentiles, even all his elect, to whom Christ is a "witness", both of his father and of himself: of his father, of his good will to men, in forming the scheme of their salvation; of his love to sinners, in the mission of him; of his justice and holiness, which appear in his being the propitiation for sin; of his truth in his promises; of his whole mind and will, with respect to doctrine and worship: he is a witness of himself; of his deity and perfections; of his divine and eternal sonship; of his existence before his incarnation; of his Messiahship; of the end of his coming into the world; of his sufferings, death, and resurrection; of his second coming; and of the several characters he bears: he is a witness of the covenant itself, as well as the surety, Mediator, and messenger of it, and of truth in general; to which he has bore witness by his word and doctrines; by his works and miracles; by his sufferings and death; by the Scriptures of truth; by his Gospel, and the ministers of it; and by his spirit, and a faithful witness he is: a leader and commander to the people; he is a "leader", as he is a teacher of his people, who teaches them to profit, and leads them in the way they should go; as a king that guides his subjects with the skilfulness of his hands, as David the type of him did; as a general leads out and on his armies to battle; as a shepherd leads his flock to good pastures; as a guide to those that know not the way; and as one that goes before others by way of example: Christ leads his people out of their own ways into his ways; and he leads them in a right way to the city of their habitation, to heaven at last; and he leads them on gradually and gently, as they are able to bear. He is a "commander" in a military way, a wise, powerful, valiant, and courageous one, and always victorious; and in a political sense, as a King commands his subjects, whose commands are to be obeyed; and indeed they are written on the hearts of his people; they are not grievous, though they cannot be performed in their own strength; nor is it designed that life and salvation should be obtained by the observance of them, but are done to testify subjection to Christ, and gratitude to him. The Targum is, "behold, I have appointed him a Prince to the people, a King, and a ruler over all kingdoms.''

4. HENRY, “Jesus Christ is promised for the making good of all the other promises which we are here invited to accept of, Isa_55:4. He is that David whose sure mercies all the blessings and

benefits of the covenant are. “And God has given him in his purpose and promise, has constituted and appointed him, and in the fulness of time will as surely send him as if he had already come, to be all that to us which is necessary to our having the benefit of these preparations.” He has given him freely; for what more free than a gift? There was nothing in us to merit such a favour, but Christ is the gift of God. We want one, 1. To attest the truth of the promises which we are invited to take the benefit of; and Christ is given for a witness that God is willing to receive us into his favour upon gospel terms, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, that we may venture our souls upon those promises with entire satisfaction. Christ is a faithful witness, we may take his word - a competent witness, for he lay in the bosom of the Father from eternity, and was perfectly apprised of the whole matter. Christ, as a prophet, testifies the will of God to the world; and to believe is to receive his testimony. 2. To assist us in closing with the invitation, and coming up to the terms of it. We know not how to find the way to the waters where we are to be supplied, but Christ is given to be a leader. We know not what to do that we may be qualified or it, and become sharers in it, but he is given for a commander, to show us what to do and enable us to do it. Much difficulty and opposition lie in our way to Christ; we have spiritual enemies to grapple with, but, to animate us for the conflict, we have a good captain, like Joshua, a leader and commander to tread our enemies under our feet and to put us in possession of the land of promise. Christ is a commander by his precept and a leader by his example; our business is to obey him and follow him.

5. JAMISON, “him — the mystical David (Eze_37:24, Eze_37:25; Jer_30:9; Hos_3:5). Given by God (Isa_49:6).

witness — He bore witness even unto death for God, to His law, claims, and plan of redeeming love (Joh_18:37; Rev_1:5). Revelation is a “testimony”; because it is propounded to be received on the authority of the Giver, and not merely because it can be proved by arguments.

commander — “preceptor” [Horsley]; “lawgiver” [Barnes].

to the people — rather, “peoples.”

6. CHARLES SIMEON, “CHRIST A WITNESS AND COMMANDER

Isa_55:4.—Behold, I have given him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the

people.

AMONGST the various means which God used for the spiritual benefit of his ancient people, one was, to

provoke them to jealousy, by declaring, that the blessings which they so abused should be transferred to

another people, who would make a more suitable improvement of them. From the beginning he warned

them of this by Moses: “They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked

me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will

provoke them to anger with a foolish nation [Note: Deu_32:21.].” Our blessed Lord and his Apostles

frequently had recourse to this expedient: and St. Paul tells us, that he had used it, not to irritate his

countrymen, but, if possible, to save them [Note: Rom_11:11; Rom_11:15.]. The Prophet Isaiah had this

object in view, in the passage before us. He has been expostulating with the Jewish people on their folly

and impiety in not seeking after the blessings of salvation, and especially those blessings which God had

covenanted to bestow upon them through their exalted Messiah [Note: Compare ver. 3. with Act_13:34.];

and he tells them, that God had given this Messiah, not, as they imagined, to them only, but to the whole

Gentile world; who would eventually run to him, and embrace him, and become the heirs of those

benefits, which the ungrateful Israelites neglected and despised.

That it is the Messiah who is here spoken of, there can be no doubt. He is often designated by the name

of David [Note: Jer_30:9. Eze_34:23-24. Hos_3:5.]: and “an unspeakable gift” he is to a ruined world

[Note: 2Co_9:15.].

We propose to shew,

I. For what ends he is given—

Doubtless he was sent for the salvation of man; according as it written, “God so loved the world, that he

gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but should have

everlasting life [Note: Joh_3:16.].” But there are two ends of his incarnation specified in the text; to which

therefore we will confine our attention. He was given,

1. “To be a Witness to the people”—

[God had from all eternity devised a plan for the redemption of the world through the sufferings of his

only-begotten Son. And of this plan the Lord Jesus Christ came to testify. For this office he was well

qualified; having concerted the plan together with his Father; as it is written, “The counsel of peace was

between them both [Note: Zec_6:13.].”

Of this stupendous mystery the Lord Jesus testified by the Prophets, hundreds of years before he came

into the world. Not one word of all that they delivered on this momentous subject proceeded from

themselves: “they spoke only as they were moved by the Holy Ghost [Note: 2Pe_1:21.],” and as they

were instructed “by an immediate inspiration from God [Note: 2Ti_3:16.].” The Spirit by whose sacred

agency they were moved, was “the Spirit of Christ:” as St. Peter says: “The Prophets, who prophesied of

the grace that should come unto us, searched what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ did

signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow

[Note: 1Pe_1:10-11.].” Here both the subject and the author of their testimony are declared to be

precisely such as we have affirmed. It was of the wonders of redemption that they testified; and the

Author of their testimony was Jesus Christ.

In due time he came down from heaven, and testified of these things in his own person. He had from all

eternity been “in the bosom of his Father [Note: Joh_1:18.],” and was privy to every thing which the

Father had ordained [Note: Joh_5:20.]: and at the appointed season he came, “as a minister of the

circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers [Note: Rom_15:8.]:” as

St. John informs us; “He that cometh from heaven is above all: and what he hath seen and heard, that

he testifieth [Note: Joh_3:31-32.].” The light which he cast on this mystery was far greater than that which

had been given to the Jewish Church: yet the time was not come for the full disclosure of it: he had many

things to say, which the people could not hear whilst he was yet sojourning on earth, because the mystery

itself yet remained to be accomplished, by his death, and resurrection, and ascension.

He therefore afterwards bore a fuller testimony by his Apostles; who, through that “unction of the Holy

One who taught them all things” and “brought all things to their remembrance,” “testified of the Gospel of

the grace of God [Note: Act_20:24.],” and “declared the whole counsel of God” respecting it. To this effect

St. John says; “We have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world

[Note: 1Jn_4:14.].” The record was the same, by whomsoever it was delivered; namely, “that God has

given to us eternal life; and that this life is in his Son: he that hath the Son, hath life; and he that hath not

the Son of God, hath not life [Note: 1Jn_5:11-12.].” By whomsoever it was delivered also, it was equally

“the testimony of Christ [Note: 1Co_1:6.],” both as having him for its Author, and him for its end.

Hence the appropriate name of Christ, as designating the first great object of his Mission, is, “The faithful

and true Witness [Note: Rev_1:5; Rev_3:14.].”]

2. To be “a Leader and Commander to the people”—

[Moses, in his day, was a witness from God, to make known to the Jewish people the Divine will: but

Joshua was the commander, who was to lead them into the Promised Land, and to give them a full

possession of their inheritance. The two offices are combined in Christ; who, whilst he is given for a

Witness, is also given for “a Leader and Commander to the people.” He even appeared to Joshua of old,

“as Captain of the host of the Lord,” from whom alone all Joshua’s success should spring

[Note: Jos_5:14-15.]. And to us also is he revealed under the same blessed character, “The Captain of

our salvation [Note: Heb_2:10.].” He is at the head of all his people, and goes forth with them to battle:

and all who have enlisted under his banners are to fight as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” and to “quit

themselves like men [Note: 2Ti_2:3. 1Co_16:13.];” nor are they ever to cense from their conflicts till they

have gained the victory [Note: 1Ti_6:12.]. Indeed “through him they shall be more than conquerors

[Note: Rom_8:37.]:” for he will never leave them, till he has fulfilled to them all that he has undertaken,

and put them into possession of their promised inheritance [Note: Jos_23:14.].]

From the ends for which he is given, we proceed to shew,

II. The manner in which he is to be received—

This must correspond with God’s design in sending him into the world. He must be received,

1. With a faith that wavers not—

[As he is a Witness to us, we must listen to his testimony with childlike simplicity. If he declare to us the

plan of salvation, we must submit to it with the deepest reverence, and not for a moment dispute against

it, or attempt to substitute in its place any plan of our own. If he open to us the great and precious

promises which God has made in his word, we must rely upon them, and expect their accomplishment

with the most assured confidence. If, on the other hand, he denounce the judgments of God against

impenitent transgressors, we must tremble at his word, and humble ourselves before him in dust and

ashes. As for all that men may say in opposition to his testimony, it must be to us of no greater weight

than the dust upon the balance. Our answer must be, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not

according to this word, it is because there is no light in them [Note: Isa_8:20.].” To sit at his feet, like

Mary, must be the delight of our souls. We must treasure up in our hearts his every word, even as his own

Mother did, whilst he was yet a child [Note: Luk_2:51.]. We must “meditate on his sayings day and night

[Note: Psalms 1, 2.].” They must be “more to us than our necessary food [Note: Job_23:12.],” and

“sweeter to us than honey and the honey-comb.” If under any circumstances our faith in his word begin to

waver, we must be ashamed of ourselves, and mourn for it, as treating him with the greatest dishonour.

Such conduct would be deemed a heinous offence even to a creature like ourselves: how much more

offensive then must it be to him! it is nothing less than “making God a liar.” This is the interpretation which

God himself puts upon such conduct [Note: Joh_5:9-10.]. Let us dread lest we be found guilty of this sin;

and let us “be strong in faith, giving glory to God.”]

2. With an obedience that has no reserves—

[The obedience which a soldier owes to his Commander is unbounded. The Commander has only to say,

“Come,” and he cometh; “Go,” and he goeth; “Do this,” and he doeth it. He does not think it any excuse

for disobedience, that by following the command he shall have to encounter an enemy that will seek his

life. On the contrary, the more dangerous the post is that is assigned him, the more he considers himself

bound to execute the command with promptitude and zeal: and, if he hesitate through fear, he is deemed

unworthy any more to serve his prince: yea, he may account himself happy, if his life be not also forfeited

as the penalty of his transgression. Shall there then be any limit to the obedience which we shall render to

our heavenly Leader? Shall his commands be disobeyed through fear, or be executed with a timid

trembling mind? Shall not his authority awe us, and his example shame us, into a conduct more worthy of

our profession? Shall we not account it rather an honour to suffer for him, and be ready at any time, or in

any manner, to lay down our lives for his sake? Yes; we must fight the good fight of faith. We must put on

the whole armour provided for us, and go forth “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” We

must be studious to learn from day to day, what is his will concerning us; and, once apprised of it, we

must set ourselves instantly to obey it. Does it call for self-denial? We should for his sake “mortify the

flesh with the affections and lusts.” Does it summon us to action? “Whatever our hand findeth to do, we

must do it with our might.” We must be ever ready to “follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”

There is nothing to which he calls us, which He has not himself both done and suffered; he, without any

obligation on his part, except what his own love had imposed upon him: whereas we are bound by our

allegiance to the God of heaven, and by all our hopes of acceptance with him in a better world, to “war a

good warfare:” for it is only by being “faithful unto death that we can ever obtain the crown of life

[Note: Rev_2:10.].”

It is said in the words following my text, that the Gentiles to whom this Saviour was given, “should run

unto him, and glorify his name.” I call on you therefore to verify this prediction, and “not to receive the

grace of God in vain.” It is in this way only that you can shew to the Jews what blessings you enjoy, and

stir them up to seek a participation of them. And in this way alone can you “walk worthy of your high

calling,” or “render to the Lord according to the benefits he has conferred upon you.”]

7. CALVIN. “4.Behold, I have given him a witness to the peoples. The Prophet now explains more fully

the reason why he mentioned “” It was because into his hand had been committed the promise of a

Redeemer that was to come, and this discourse might be expressed with a view to his public character,

so far as he was the surety of the covenant; for he did not act for himself individually, but was appointed

to be a sort of mediator between God and the people. Yet it is beyond all doubt that the Prophet leads

them directly to Christ, to whom the transition from David was easy and natural; as if he had said, “

successor of David shall come forth, by whose hand perfect salvation and happiness hath been

promised.”

By calling him “ witness,” he means that the covenant into which he entered shall be ratified and

confirmed in Christ. There is a weighty meaning in the word “” for he clearly shows that this covenant shall

be proved in Christ, by whom the truth of God shall be made manifest. He will! testify that God is not

false. But this testimony consists in doctrine; and if it were not added, we should receive little benefit from

Christ’ coming, as it is said, “ will publish the command.” (Psa_2:7) In this sense also Isaiah said in

another passage, that Christ will have a mouth like a sword or an arrow. (Isa_49:2)

A leader and instructor. This is added, in order to procure attention to his doctrine; for, if we do not hear

him when he speaks, and if we do not embrace by assured faith what he makes known to us concerning

the Father’ good pleasure, his power is set aside. In like manner, the name of Christ is pronounced loudly

enough by the Papists; but since they refuse to receive him as a teacher and instructor, and acknowledge

him merely by name, their boasting is idle and ridiculous.

To the peoples. This was added for the purpose of amplification, because the Church could not be

restored to her ancient dignity, or be enlarged, but by assembling the Gentiles; and therefore it was

necessary that the voice of Christ should pierce even to the remotest countries, because he has been

appointed a “ leader, and instructor” to the whole human race.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations you do not know will come running to

you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor.”

1.BARNES, “Behold, thou shalt call ... - This is evidently an address to the Messiah, and is a promise that the Gentiles should be called by him to the fellowship of the gospel.

That thou knowest not - The phrase ‘thou knowest not,’ means a nation that had not been regarded as his own people.

And nations that knew not thee - The pagan nations that were strangers to thee.

Shall run unto thee - Indicating the haste and anxiety which they would have to partake of the benefits of the true religion.

Because of the Lord thy God - From respect to the God who had appointed the Messiah, and who had organized the Church.

For he hath glorified thee - Joh_16:5. God had glorified him by appointing him to be the Messiah; and he would glorify him in the future triumphs of the gospel, in the day of judgment, and in the eternal splendors of heaven.

2. GILL, “Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not,.... And even nations,

as in the next clause; not all the individuals of them, though the Gospel is sent to all nations; and

in the latter day the kingdoms of this world shall be the Lord's, and all nations shall serve him. It

denotes a great concourse of people to Christ, even such as were not known by him: he knows all

mankind as he is the omniscient God, and especially them that are his, these he has a special

and peculiar knowledge of; he knows them as his beloved, chosen, and redeemed ones, even

before conversion; and yet, in a sense, they are unknown to him before calling; they are not

taken notice of by him in an open way; they are not owned and acknowledged to be his; there is

no intimacy between them; they are not admitted to fellowship and communion with him. The

phrase denotes them to be a foreign people, and so properly describes the Gentiles, who were

without Christ, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. These, Jehovah the Father says, for

these are his words to his Son, he shall "call"; not merely with an external call, by the ministry of

the word, though this is Christ's call, and is the means of bringing souls to him; but sometimes

this is a call of persons who are not chosen and saved, and is of no effect; but with the internal

call, by his Spirit and grace, which is according to the purpose of God, and is peculiar to his

elect; is the fruit of love, and by special grace, and to special blessings; is by the power of God,

and is irresistible, unfrustrable, and irreversible: hence the following effect,

and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee; knew not even God himself, as the Gentiles did not, much less the Messiah; they knew neither his person nor his offices, nor the way of peace, life, and salvation by him; were in a state of gross darkness; and to whom the Gospel was not known, which is a revelation of Christ, and of good things by him. Now the promise is, that, upon the above call, such persons should "run" unto Christ; light goes along with that call, directing to the object, where all grace and salvation be; life is infused, by which they are quickened, and move; and strength is given, by which they stand upon their feet, walk and run; efficacious grace, then exerted, draws them; and under a sense of danger, and in a view of safety in Christ, they run with all readiness and cheerfulness to him, and lay hold on him the hope set before them. The Targum adds, "to bring tribute unto thee.'' Because of the Lord thy God; because of the love of God, with which they are drawn; and because of his power, which is put forth upon them; because of his grace, and the proclamations of it in Christ, and the declaration of his will, that whoever believes in him shall have everlasting life; and because he has appointed Christ, and him only, to be their Saviour and Redeemer; and because there is no coming to God but by him: for the Holy One of Israel; or, "and" or "even to the Holy One of Israel" (i); that is, Christ, who is holy in his natures and offices, and the sanctifier of his people; to him shall they run, for the cleansing of their filthy souls in the fountain of his blood; and for the expiation of their sin

and guilt, by his atoning sacrifice; and for righteousness and strength; for grace, and all the supplies of it; for peace, pardon, and eternal life: for he hath glorified thee; that is, God the Father has glorified his Son, through the miracles wrought by him in his state of humiliation; by supporting him, as man, in his work, and under all his sufferings; and by raising him from the dead, and at his ascension to heaven; and by bestowing on him the gifts of the Spirit without measure, to give to others; which, with the reasons before suggested, induce, engage, and encourage sons to run to Christ, when called by his grace. Some understand all this of the first Christian church, consisting of believing Jews, who should call the Gentiles by her ministers unto Christ, by the conversion and accession of which she would be glorified. These nations are those the apostles were sent and preached unto, after the resurrection of Christ, all the nations of the world, even most distant and remote; and particularly those the Apostle Paul preached unto from Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum; and which the ministers of the word preached unto, in the first ages of the Gospel; such as those mentioned by Tertullian (k) in his time, as the Parthians, Medea, Elamites; the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, and Pamphylia; the Egyptians, Africans, Romans, Getulians, Moors, Spaniards, Gauls, Britons, Sarmatians, Dacians, Germans, and Sythians; besides many other nations, provinces, and isles unknown, too many to enumerate, who professed the name of Christ; and yet more, when the whole Roman empire became Christian, in the times of Constantine; to which may be added the various kingdoms in Europe, which cast off the Romish yoke at the Reformation; together with many of the American nations, or new found world, who now embrace and profess the Christian religion.

3. HENRY, “The Master of the feast being fixed, it is next to be furnished with guests, for the provision shall not be lost, nor made in vain, Isa_55:5. 1. The Gentiles shall be called to this feast, shall be invited out of the highways and the hedges: “Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, that is, that was not formerly called and owned as thy nation, that thou didst not send prophets to as to Israel, the people whom God knew above all the families of the earth.” The Gentiles shall now be favoured as they never were before; their knowing God is said to be rather their being known of God, Gal_4:9. 2. They shall come at the call: Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee; those that had long been afar off from Christ shall be made nigh; those that had been running from him shall run to him, with the greatest speed and alacrity imaginable. There shall be a concourse of believing Gentiles to Christ, who, being lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to him. Now see the reason, (1.) Why the Gentiles will thus flock to Christ; it is because of the Lord his God, because he is the Son of God, and is declared to be so with power, because they now see his God is one with whom they have to do, and there is no coming to him as their God but by making an interest in his Son. Those that are brought to be acquainted with God, and understand how the concern lies between them and him, cannot but run to Jesus Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and Man, and there is no coming to God but by him. (2.) Why God will bring them to him; it is because he is the Holy One of Israel, true to his promises, and he has promised to glorify him by giving him the heathen for his inheritance. When Greeks began to enquire after Christ he said, The hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified, Joh_12:22, Joh_12:23. And his being glorified in his resurrection and ascension was the great argument by which multitudes were wrought upon to run to him.

4. JAMISON, “thou — Jehovah addresses Messiah.

call ... run — God must call, before man can, or will, run (Son_1:4; Joh_6:44). Not merely come, but run eagerly.

thou knowest not — now as thy people (so in Mat_7:23).

nation ... nations — gradation; from Israel, one nation, the Gospel spread to many nations, and will do so more fully on Israel’s conversion.

knew not thee — (Isa_52:15; Eph_2:11, Eph_2:12).

because of ... thy God ... glorified thee — (Isa_60:5, Isa_60:9; Zec_8:23); where similar language is directed to Israel, because of the identification of Israel with Messiah, who is the ideal Israel (Mat_2:15; compare with Hos_11:1; see Act_3:13).

5. K&D, “

6. CALVIN. “5.Behold, thou shalt call a nation which thou knowest not. Isaiah explains more largely

what he formerly glanced at by a single word; for he declares that Christ shall be the “” not of a single

people, but of all the peoples. “ call” here denotes possession; for there is a mutual relation between the

words “” and “” Christ therefore “” in the exercise of authority, as one who is invested with supreme power;

and he “” the Gentiles, that he may bring them into a state of obedience, and may cause them to submit

to his word.

He says that they shall be ready to obey, though hitherto they were unknown; not that the Son of God, by

whom they were created, did not know them, but because he paid no regard to them (83) until they began

to be reckoned as belonging to the Church. God had in a peculiar manner called the Jews; the Gentiles

appeared to be excluded as if they did not at all belong to him. But now, addressing Christ, (84) he

promises that Christ shall constrain the Gentiles to obey him, though formerly they were opposed to his

authority. He expresses this still more plainly in what immediately follows.

A nation that knew not thee shall run to thee. By putting the verb ירוצו (yarutzu) shall run, in the plural

number, he intends to explain more fully that the Church shall be collected out of various peoples, so that

they who were formerly scattered shall be gathered into one body; for the word “” relates to harmony of

faith. When he now says that the Gentiles “ not know Christ,” he employs the expression in a different

sense from that in which he said, a little before, that they were unknown to Christ; for all heathens and

unbelievers are declared, in a literal sense, to be in a state of ignorance, in consequence of their being

destitute of the light of heavenly doctrine, without which they cannot have the knowledge of God.

Although by nature the knowledge of God is engraven on the hearts of all men, yet it is so confused and

dark, and entangled by many errors, that, if the light of the word be not added to it, by knowing they know

not God, but wander miserably in darkness.

Here we have a remarkable testimony of God as to the calling of the Gentiles, for whom, as well as for

the Jews, Christ was appointed. Hence also we learn that God takes care of us, if we bow to his authority,

and not only such care as he takes of all the creatures, but such care as a father takes of his children.

Yet the word “” describes more fully the efficacy of this calling, for the object of it is, that we shall obey

God, that we shall readily and cheerfully place ourselves before him as teachable, and ready to comply

with any expression of his will; in like manner, as Paul shows that obedience is the end of our calling.

(Rom_1:5) But as the Gentiles were at a great distance from God, it was necessary that they should labor

earnestly to surmount every obstacle, that they might draw near to him.

For the sake of Jehovah thy God. He shows what is the source of this readiness and cheerfulness. It is

because the Gentiles shall know that they have to do with God; for, if we contemplate Christ merely as

man, we shall not be powerfully affected by his doctrine, but when we behold God in him, an astonishing

warmth of affection is kindled in our hearts. Now, Christ is here described as a minister appointed by God

to perform his work; for he assumes the character of a servant along with our flesh, and in this respect

there is no impropriety in his being subjected to the Father, as if he belonged to the rank of other men.

Yet we ought to keep in remembrance what we have frequently seen as to the union of the Head and the

members; for what is now said concerning Christ relates to the whole body, and therefore the glorifying is

common to the whole Church. Yet Christ always holds the highest rank; for, being raised on high, he is

exalted above the whole world, that to him there may be a concourse of all nations. In a word, he shows

that men obey Christ and submit to his doctrine, because God hath exalted him, and hath determined to

make his pre-eminence known to all men; for otherwise the preaching of the gospel would be of little use,

if God did not give power and efficacy to his doctrine by the Spirit.

(83) “Pource qu’ ont este mesprisees et rejettees.” “ they were despised and rejected.”

(84) “ question which has chiefly divided interpreters, in reference to this verse, is, whether the object of

address is the Messiah or the Church. The former opinion is maintained by Calvin, Sanctus, and others;

the latter by Grotins and Vitringa. The masculine forms prove nothing either way, because the Church is

sometimes presented in the person of Israel, and sometimes personified as a woman. The most natural

supposition is, that after speaking of the Messiah, he now turns to him and addresses him directly.” -

Alexander.

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

1.BARNES, “Seek ye the Lord - The commencement of religion in the heart is often represented as seeking for God. or inquiring for his ways Deu_4:29; Job_5:8; Job_8:5; Psa_9:10; Psa_14:2; Psa_27:8. This is to be regarded as addressed not to the Jewish exiles only or uniquely, but to all in view of the coming and work of the Messiah. That work would be so full

and ample that an invitation could be extended to all to seek after God, and to return to him. It is implied here:

1. That people are by nature ignorant of God - since they are directed to ‘seek’ for him.

2. That if people will obtain his favor it must be sought. No man becomes his friend without desiring it; no one who does not earnestly seek for it.

3. That the invitation to seek God should be made to all. In this passage it is unlimited (compare Isa_55:7). Where there are sinners, there the invitation is to be offered.

4. That the knowledge of God is of inestimable value. He would not command people to seek that which was worthless; he would not urge it with so much earnestness as is here manifested if it were not of inexpressible importance.

While he may be found - It is implied here:

1. That God may now be found.

2. That the time will come when it will be impossible to obtain his favor.

The leading thought is, that under the Messiah the offer of salvation will be made to people fully and freely. But the period will come when it will be withdrawn. If God forsakes human beings; if he wholly withdraws his Spirit; if they have committed the sin which hath never forgiveness; or if they neglect or despise the provisions of mercy and die in their sins, it will be too late, and mercy cannot then be found. How unspeakably important, then, is it to seek for mercy at once - lest, slighted now, the offer should be withdrawn. or lest death should Overtake us, and we be removed to a world where mercy is unknown! How important is the present moment - for another moment may place us beyond the reach of pardon and of grace! How amazing the stupidity of men who suffer their present moments to pass away unimproved, and who, amidst the gaieties and the business of life, permit the day of salvation to pass by, and lose their souls! And how just is the condemnation of the sinner! If a man will not do so simple a thing as to ask for pardon, he ought to perish. The universe will approve the condemnation of such a man; and the voice of complaint can never be raised against that Holy Being who consigns such a sinner to hell.

Call ye upon him - That is, implore his mercy (see Rom_10:13; compare Joe_2:32). How easy are the terms of salvation! How just will be the condemnation of a sinner if he will not call upon God! Assuredly, if people will not breathe out one broken-hearted petition to the God of heaven that they may be saved, they have only to blame themselves if they are lost. The terms of salvation could be made no easier; and man can ask nothing more simple.

While he is near - In an important sense God is equally near to us at all times. But this figurative language is taken from the mode of speaking among people, and it denotes that there are influences more favorable for seeking him at some periods than others. Thus God comes near to us in the preaching of his word, when it is borne with power to the conscience; in his providences, when he strikes down a friend and comes into the very circle where we move, or the very dwelling where we abide; when he lays his hand upon us in sickness, he is near us by day and by night; in a revival of religion, or when a pious friend pleads with us, God is near to us then, and is calling us to his favor. These are favorable times for salvation; times which, if they are suffered to pass by unimproved, return no more; periods which will all soon be gone, and when they are gone, the sinner irrecoverably dies.

2. CLARKE, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found - Rab. David Kimchi gives the true sense of this passage: “Seek ye the Lord, because he may be found: call upon him, because he is near. Repent before ye die, for after death there is no conversion of the soul.”

3. GILL, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,.... The Lord is to be sought unto at all times, whenever the people of God meet together, especially on sabbath days, and while the external ministry of the word lasts, and life itself; so the Targum, "seek the fear of the Lord, while ye are alive.'' Kimchi compares it with Ecc_9:10. The Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra and others, generally interpret it before the sealing of the decree, or before the decree is gone forth. It may be understood of place, as well as time, and be rendered, "seek the Lord in the place where he may be found" (l); God is to be found, as Aben Ezra observes, in all places, and at all times; under the Old Testament there was a particular place appointed for the worship of God, the tabernacle and temple, where he was to be sought unto, and might be found; under the New Testament, all places are alike, and wherever the church and people of God meet together, there he is to be sought, and there he may be found, even in his house and ordinances: call ye upon him while he is near; the same thing designed by different words: seeking and calling design not only prayer, but the whole of public worship, and the time and place when and where the Lord is to be found, and is near. Aben Ezra thinks it refers to the Shechinah in the sanctuary. Perhaps it may have some respect to the time of Christ's incarnation, and his being in the land of Judea; and to the destruction of the temple by the Romans, when the Lord could be no more sought unto, and found in that place; or when the Christians were obliged to move from Jerusalem, because of the siege of it; and when the Jews had no more an opportunity of hearing the Gospel there. (l) So in the Jerusalem Talmud, as quoted by Abendana on the place, "seek the Lord, where he is found, in the synagogues, and in the schools; call upon him, where he is near, in the synagogues, and in the schools.'' And so another Jewish writer, mentioned by him, interprets the words, "whilst the Shechinah is found in the sanctuary; before he hides his face, and causes his Shechinah to remove from you.''

4. HENRY, “We have here a further account of that covenant of grace which is made with us in Jesus Christ, both what is required and what is promised in the covenant, and of those considerations that are sufficient abundantly to confirm our believing compliance with and reliance on that covenant. This gracious discovery of God's good-will to the children of men is not to be confined either to the Jew or to the Gentile, to the Old Testament or to the New, much less to the captives in Babylon. No, both the precepts and the promises are here given to all, to every one that thirsts after happiness, Isa_55:1. And who does not? Hear this, and live. I. Here is a gracious offer made of pardon, and peace, and all happiness, to poor sinners, upon

gospel terms, Isa_55:6, Isa_55:7.

1. Let them pray, and their prayers shall be heard and answered (Isa_55:6): “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Seek him whom you have left by revolting from your allegiance to him and whom you have lost by provoking him to withdraw his favour from you. Call upon him now while he is near, and within call.” Observe here,

(1.) The duties required. [1.] “Seek the Lord. Seek to him, and enquire of him, as your oracle. Ask the law at his mouth. What wilt thou have me to do? Seek for him, and enquire after him, as your portion and happiness; seek to be reconciled to him and acquainted with him, and to be happy in his favour. Be sorry that you have lost him; be solicitous to find him; take the appointed method of finding him, making use of Christ as your way, the Spirit as your guide, and the word as your rule.” [2.] “Call upon him. Pray to him, to be reconciled, and, being reconciled, pray to him for every thing else you have need of.”

(2.) The motives made use of to press these duties upon us: While he may be found - while he is near. [1.] It is implied that now God is near and will be found, so that it shall not be in vain to seek him and to call upon him. Now his patience is waiting on us, his word is calling to us, and his Spirit striving with us. Let us now improve our advantages and opportunities; for now is the accepted time. But, [2.] There is a day coming when he will be afar off, and will not be found, when the day of his patience is over, and his Spirit will strive no more. There may come such a time in this life, when the heart is incurably hardened; it is certain that at death and judgment the door will be shut, Luk_16:26; Luk_13:25, Luk_13:26. Mercy is now offered, but then judgment without mercy will take place.

2. Let them repent and reform, and their sins shall be pardoned, Isa_55:7. Here is a call to the unconverted, to the wicked and the unrighteous - to the wicked, who live in known gross sins, to the unrighteous, who live in the neglect of plain duties: to them is the word of this salvation sent, and all possible assurance given that penitent sinners shall find God a pardoning God. Observe here,

(1.) What it is to repent. There are two things involved in repentance: - [1.] It is to turn from sin; it is to forsake it. It is to leave it, and to leave it with loathing and abhorrence, never to return to it again. The wicked must forsake his way, his evil way, as we would forsake a false way that will never bring us to the happiness we aim at, and a dangerous way, that leads to destruction. Let him not take one step more in that way. Nay, there must be not only a change of the way, but a change of the mind; the unrighteous must forsake his thoughts. Repentance, if it be true, strikes at the root, and washes the heart from wickedness. We must alter our judgments concerning persons and things, dislodge the corrupt imaginations and quit the vain pretences under which an unsanctified heart shelters itself. Note, It is not enough to break off from evil practices, but we must enter a caveat against evil thoughts. Yet this is not all: [2.] To repent is to return to the Lord; to return to him as our God, our sovereign Lord, against whom we have rebelled, and to whom we are concerned to reconcile ourselves; it is to return to the Lord as the fountain of life and living waters, which we had forsaken for broken cisterns.

(2.) What encouragement we have thus to repent. If we do so, [1.] God will have mercy. He will

not deal with us as our sins have deserved, but will have compassion on us. Misery is the object

of mercy. Now both the consequences of sin, by which we have become truly miserable

(Eze_16:5, Eze_16:6), and the nature of repentance, by which we are made sensible of our

misery and are brought to bemoan ourselves (Jer_31:18), both these make us objects of pity, and

with God there are tender mercies. [2.] He will abundantly pardon. He will multiply to pardon

(so the word is), as we have multiplied to offend. Though our sins have been very great and very

many, and though we have often backslidden and are still prone to offend, yet God will repeat

his pardon, and welcome even backsliding children that return to him in sincerity.

5. JAMISON, “The condition and limit in the obtaining of the spiritual benefits (Isa_55:1-3): (1) Seek the Lord. (2) Seek Him while He is to be found (Isa_65:1; Psa_32:6; Mat_25:1-13; Joh_7:34; Joh_8:21; 2Co_6:2; Heb_2:3; Heb_3:13, Heb_3:15).

call — casting yourselves wholly on His mercy (Rom_10:13). Stronger than “seek”; so “near” is more positive than “while He may be found” (Rom_10:8, Rom_10:9).

near — propitious (Psa_34:18; Psa_145:18).

6. K&D, “So gracious is the offer which Jehovah now makes to His people, so great are the promises that He makes to it, viz., the regal glory of David, and the government of the world by virtue of the religion of Jehovah. Hence the exhortation is addressed to it in Isa_55:6 and Isa_55:7 : “Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have compassion upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” They

are to seek to press into the fellowship of Jehovah (da�rash with the radical meaning terere, to

acquire experimental knowledge or confidential acquaintance with anything) now that He is to be found (Isa_65:1, compare the parallelism of words and things in Jer_29:14), and to call upon Him, viz., for a share in that superabundant grace, ow that He is near, i.e., now that He approaches Israel, and offers it. In the admonition to repentance introduced in Isa_55:7, both

sides of the µετάνοια find expression, viz., turning away from sinful self-will, and turning to the

God of salvation. The apodosis with its promises commences with וירחמהו - then will He have

compassion upon such a man; and consequently ה לסלוח�Pי־ירR (with יR because the fragmentary

sentence ואל־אלהינו did not admit of the continuation with �ו) has not a general, but an individual meaning (vid., Psa_130:4, Psa_130:7), and is to be translated as a future (for the expression, compare Isa_26:17).

7. SBC, “I. Consider what we are to understand by seeking the Lord. It is in His double aspect, combined but not contradictory character, as at once just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus, as a God of justice to punish sin in the surety, and as a God of mercy to pardon it in the sinner, that we are to seek the Lord, and all the blessings which in that gracious character He has and He promises to bestow. Thus, to seek the Lord is just to approach Him by faith.

II. Inquire when the Lord is to be found, and we remark, (1) that the Lord, as bestowing the pardon of sin and salvation on the soul, is to be found in this world, not in another; (2) that the Lord is not to be found on a deathbed; (3) that the Lord is more likely to be found now than at any future time.

III. The shortness and uncertainty of life are strong reasons for seeking pardon and salvation now.

T. Guthrie, The Way to Life, p. 78.

Reference: Isa_55:6.—Bishop Walsham How, Plain Words, 2nd series, p. 47.

Isaiah 55:6-7 I. Observe the order of the steps of grace. You are first to feel after God in your own heart, "if haply you may find Him;" and when this has brought you a little near, then you are to call out—then you are to pray; then you are to give up some known sin—every wicked way, and every

wrong thought. That is an indispensable condition. Then comes the meeting of a pardoned soul with God, and next the appreciation of the Lord as our own covenanted God; and then the sweetness of that perfect love and forgiveness of the Father.

II. Notice, further, that at each step there is an opportunity of finding God, and these opportunities are limited. We are to expect answers to prayer as we give up outward sins, which it is easy to do, and inward sin, which is the more difficult. What is nearness? Is God always near? The Holy Ghost makes nearness. He unites us to God. That presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul is nearness. If the Holy Ghost were to leave you, you would never find God—the life in the Spirit would be over. Hence the tremendous emphasis of the words, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found."

III. How can the wicked forsake his way? By prayer, by occupation, by filling the mind with what is good, by having more of the Holy Spirit, by new and better pleasures, higher objects, worthier influences, more fixed motives, by loving constant thoughts of Jesus—this leads on to the end.

IV. There are crises in life. Whatever account you have to settle with God, settle it now. There are two "nows" in the Bible which ought never to be separated. One stands out in the brightest rays, the other retires into the deepest shadows. "Now is the accepted time." "Now they are hid from thine eyes."

J. Vaughan, Sermons, 11th series, p. 29.

References: Isa_55:6, Isa_55:7.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 38. Isa_55:6-9.—C. Short, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 158.

8. CALVIN. “6.Seek ye Jehovah. After having spoken of the good success of the gospel among the

Gentiles, who formerly were strangers to the kingdom of God, he urges the Jews to be ashamed of

loitering while others run; for since they were the first who were called, it is shameful that they should be

last. This exhortation, therefore, relates strictly to the Jews, to whom the example of the Gentiles is held

out in order to excite their jealousy; in the same manner as the Lord hath foretold that “ would provoke the

Jews to jealousy by a foolish nation.” (Deu_32:21)

While he is found. “ time of finding” is here used not exactly in the same sense as in Psa_32:6, (85) but as

the time when God offers himself to us, as in other passages he has limited a fixed day for his good and

our salvation. (Isa_49:8) Yet I readily admit that it likewise denotes the time when necessity prompts us to

seek God’ assistance; but we ought chiefly to remember that God is sought at a seasonable time, when

of his own accord he advances to meet us; for in vain shall indolent and sluggish persons lament that

they had been deprived of that grace which they rejected. The Lord sometimes endures our sluggishness,

and bears with us; but if ultimately he do not succeed, he will withdraw, and will bestow his grace on

others. For this reason Christ exhorts us to walk while it is day, for the night cometh when the means of

pursuing our journey shall be taken from us. (Joh_12:35) We ought to draw high consolation from being

assured that it is not in vain for us to seek God. “” says Christ, “ ye shall find; knock, and it shall be

opened; ask, and it shall be given to you.” (Mat_7:7)

Call upon him while he is near. The word “” may here be taken in a general sense; but I think that it

denotes one description of” seeking” God, which is of more importance than all the others, as if he

commanded us to betake ourselves to him by prayers and supplications. He says that he is “” when he

opens the door and gently invites us to come to him, or when he comes forth publicly, so that we do not

need to seek him through long windings. But we must attend to Paul’ definition, who tells us that it

denotes the preaching of the gospel. (Rom_10:8) “ Lord is nigh,” (Phi_4:5) and exhibits himself to us,

when the voice of the gospel cries aloud; and we do not need to seek far, or to make long circuits, as

unbelievers do; for he exhibits himself to us in his word, that we, on our part, may draw near to him.

(85) “ a time when thou mayest be found. Heb., in a time of finding.” (Eng. Ver.) Our author’ rendering is, “

shall every one that is meek pray unto thee in the time of finding thee.” In his commentary he makes

reference to this passage of Isaiah. Ed.

9. CHARLES SIMEON, “OF SEEKING THE LORD IN TIME

Isa_55:6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near [Note: There is a

beautiful plan of a Sermon on this text in Claude’s Essay, page 54 of fifth and improved Edition.].

THERE is scarcely any more striking proof of our insensibility with respect to eternal things, than the

unconcern we shew whilst death is casting his darts all around us. If our neighbour’s house were on fire,

we should think of exerting ourselves to secure our own habitation from the flames, or to save our

property: yet we can hear of the deaths of others, and confess that we ourselves also are dying creatures,

and yet delay our preparation for death as much as if we were exempt from the common danger. But

every fresh instance of mortality is a voice from God to the survivors; and speaks to them the very

language of the text.

We need not give a formal distribution of the text, as it is our intention only to ground upon it a general

exhortation to seek the Lord. Yet, that our plan may not be altogether concealed, we shall arrange our

thoughts under the following observations.

I. There is reason to fear that God, though essentially present with all, is spiritually and practically

absent from the most of us—

[It is not improbable that some amongst us may live in the occasional, if not also the habitual, commission

of known and open sin. In some will be found drunkenness and lewdness; in others, falsehood and

dishonesty: in some, pride and envy; in others, malice and revenge. And are not these manifest tokens

that they are strangers to the Divine presence? Can it be said of such persons that God is with them of a

truth?

But where the external deportment is blameless, and where the outward form of godliness is maintained,

how little is there, for the most part, of its power! Many read the Bible, and find it only a sealed book: they

attend the ordinances of religion, but experience no delight in them: they pray in secret (if mere formal

devotions can be called prayer) and derive no benefit to their souls. Whence is all this, but because God

is absent from them? If God were with them, his “words would be spirit and life” unto them

[Note: Joh_6:63.]; their communion with him would be sweet; their communications from him would

diffuse a glory round their very countenance [Note: Exo_34:35.]; and the exercises of religion, though not

always alike spiritual, would on the whole be accompanied with vital energy, and be followed with

progressive sanctification.

Such, alas! is the state of the generality: however they may have witnessed the wind, the earthquake, and

the fire, and have felt some alarm and terror in their souls, they are yet strangers to that “still small voice”

in which the Lord reveals himself to his people [Note: 1Ki_19:11-13.]. We may say, in reference to what

was spoken on a very different occasion, Lord, if thou hadst been with them, they had not been thus

habitually dead and formal [Note: Joh_11:21; Joh_11:32.].]

II. We cannot hope to find him, if we do not seek him—

[We know that, in the ordinary course of providence, neither the countryman can fill his barns without

much previous toil, nor the student acquire knowledge without much patient investigation. How then can it

be supposed that we should attain the knowledge and enjoyment of God, without seeking after him in his

appointed way? He has indeed sometimes been found of them that sought him not, and made known to

them that inquired not after him [Note: Rom_10:20.]: but this must no more be expected by us, than that

the sea should open a passage for our feet, or the sun stand still to lengthen out our day. God has said

he will be inquired of by us [Note: Eze_36:37.], and that we must ask, if we would have; and seek, if we

would find [Note: Luk_11:9.]. Nor is it in a cold indifferent manner that we must seek; we must strive as

persons in earnest [Note: Luk_13:24.], and if once we get access to God, we must detain him, as it were,

by force [Note: Gen_32:26.], and take his kingdom, as it were, by violence [Note: Mat_11:12.]. And it is for

want of this holy zeal in our endeavours, that so many of us seek him throughout our lives, and never

obtain a saving “acquaintance with him.” We must also seek him in and through Christ: for it is by Christ

only that we can ever come unto the Father [Note: Joh_14:6.].]

III. There is a time coming, when, though we should seek him, he will not be found of us—

[This awful truth is strongly intimated in the text; nor ought it to be concealed from our view. We all know

that, at the time of death, our opportunities of seeking God will be for ever closed [Note: Ecc_9:10.].

However earnestly we may implore the Divine favour [Note: Joh_9:4. Mat_25:11-12; Mat_7:22-23.], or

even the smallest expression of it [Note: Luk_16:24; Luk_16:26.], we shall ask in vain. But our day of

grace may also be terminated on this side the grave. The Jews in the wilderness [Note: Psa_81:11-

12; Psa_95:11.], and those who rejected our Lord’s word [Note: Joh_8:21.], and the greatest part of the

Jewish nation at the time of his death [Note: Luk_19:42.], were given over to final impenitence, even while

they continued in the full enjoyment of health, and of all outward privileges. And we have reason to fear

the same dreadful judgments, if we persist in slighting God’s warnings, and in deferring our repentance

[Note: Pro_1:24-31.]. How earnestly should we improve the present hour, if we duly considered this!]

IV. If we would seek him now, he would be found of all of us—

[This is the accepted time; this is the day of salvation [Note: 2Co_6:2.]. God “is near” to us at present,

both in his word and ordinances, and he is willing to be found of every sincere worshipper. If indeed we

have determinately set ourselves against him, and resisted all the motions of his Spirit, till he has ceased

to strive with us, it is possible that we may be already given up to final obduracy [Note: Gen_6:3.]. But if

we feel any desire after God, then we may be sure that he has not yet cast us off: that very desire is, if we

may so speak, a knock at the door of our hearts, whereby God intimates his willingness to take up his

abode with us [Note:Rev_3:20.]. Only let us cherish the latent spark; and we may be assured that he will

not quench the smoking flax [Note: Mat_12:20.]; he will not despise the day of small things

[Note: Zec_4:10.].]

We will not conclude this address without a more particular application of it to different persons,

1. To the young—

[To you God has given an express promise that you shall not seek his face in vain [Note: Pro_8:17.].

Seek then to resemble those whose names are recorded for your encouragement, as having obtained

mercy in their earliest years [Note: Samuel, Josiah, and Timothy, from their very childhood, and John

Baptist from the womb.], ana as being highly distinguished among the saints of God. And let not these

years, which are so favourable for the reception of divine impressions [Note: Pro_22:6.], be wasted in the

service of sin and Satan.]

2. To the afflicted—

[Affliction is oftentimes the voice of God [Note: Mic_6:9.]: and, if you have the wisdom to improve it, you

also have a special promise, that you shall find favour with God [Note: Psa_50:15.]. Begin then “in the

day of adversity to consider;” and you shall have no reason to regret the seventy of the means, when

once you have attained the end which God designs to accomplish by them.]

3. To the old—

[You above all should set yourselves to seek the Lord, because your day of grace cannot be continued

much longer. It is a comfort, however, to reflect, that you may obtain mercy even at the eleventh hour

[Note: Mat_20:5-6.]. Let then your past time be redeemed with diligence; and, the shorter the space

allowed you is for seeking the Lord, the more earnest let your exertions be to “know the things belonging

to your peace, before they be for ever hid from your eyes.”] [Note: If this were the subject of a Funeral

Sermon, the friends of the deceased might be addressed, and the deceased person’s past and present

views of this subject be impressed upon their minds as incentives to diligence.”]

7 Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on

them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

1.BARNES, “Let the wicked ... - In this verse we are told what is necessary in order to seek God and to return to him, and the encouragement which we have to do it. The first step is for the sinner to forsake his way. He must come to a solemn pause, and resolve to abandon all his transgressions. His evil course; his vices; his corrupt practices; and his dissipated companions, must be forsaken.

And the unrighteous man - Margin, “Man of iniquity.” This is a literal translation. The address is made to all people, for all are such.

His thoughts - The Hebrew word denotes all that is the object of thought; and the idea is, that the man must abandon his plans and purposes of life. The thoughts, in the sight of a holy God, are not less important than the external deportment; and no man can obtain his favor who is not ready to abandon his erroneous opinions, his pride and vanity, his plans of evil, and his purposes of life that are opposed to God.

And let him return unto the Lord - Man, in the Scriptures, is everywhere described as having wandered away from the true God. Religion consists in returning to him for pardon, for consolation, for protection, for support. The true penitent is desirous of returning to him, as the prodigal son returned to his father’s house; the man who loves sin chooses to remain at a distance from God.

And to our God - The God of his people; the God of the speaker here. It is the language of those who have found mercy. The idea is, that he who has bestowed mercy on us, will be ready to bestow it on others. ‘We have returned to God. We have had experience of his compassion, and we have such a conviction of his overflowing mercy, that we can assure all others that if they will return to our God, he will abundantly pardon them.’ The doctrine is, that they who have found favor have a deep conviction of the abounding compassion of God, and such a sense of the fullness of his mercy, that they are disposed to offer the assurance to all others, that they may also obtain full forgiveness. Compare Rev_22:17 - ‘And let him that heareth say, Come.’

For he will abundantly pardon - Margin, as Hebrew, ‘Multiply to pardon.’ He abounds in forgiveness. This is the conviction of those who are pardoned; this is the promise of inestimable worth which is made to all who are willing to return to God. On the ground of this promise all may come to him, and none who come shall be sent empty away.

2. CHARLES SIMEON, “ENCOURAGEMENT TO TURN TO GOD

Isa_55:7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto

the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

WE may discern many of the attributes of the Deity, as wisdom, power, and goodness, in the works of

creation: but it is from the book of revelation only that we obtain the knowledge of his mercy. The Heathen

indeed entertain some faint ideas that God will pardon them; though they know not how to approach him

with acceptance, nor have any assurance that they shall find acceptance with him. But we are invited by

God himself to come unto him, and are encouraged by an express promise that he will pardon even the

vilest of returning prodigals.

In the words before us, we may see,

I. Our duty—

All of us by nature are in a state of departure from God, and of subjection to sin. Hence our duty is,

1. To forsake our sins—

[Every one has some “way” which he has marked out for himself; some way that is suited to his age, his

education, his circumstances in life, or his constitutional propensities. Some are addicted to open vice;

others to a more decent species of gaiety; others to the pursuit of riches; others to the more refined,

though not less destructive, gratifications of literary pride; while others again regard nothing but their

ease, and the indulgence of their peculiar habits. But whatever be our ways, if they be not such as are

prescribed in the Scripture, and such as lead directly to heaven, they must be “forsaken.” We may indeed,

and must, attend to our earthly duties; but in them, as well as in our religious exercises, we must seek the

glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.

We must moreover forsake our “thoughts.” Even they who are most correct in their conduct, will find

abundant matter for humiliation in their “thoughts.” What proud thoughts arise even from their supposed

superiority to others! What vain, angry, envious, worldly, covetous, impure, and unbelieving thoughts

lodge within us all, and find a welcome reception in our hearts! These then, no less than our ways, must

be “forsaken:” we must watch and pray against them, and labour to have our minds occupied with holy

and heavenly contemplations.]

2. To turn unto our God—

[As it is from God that we have departed, so it is unto God that we must return: nor will any reformation of

our lives, or even renovation of our hearts, avail us, if this further change be not accomplished within us.

We must turn to him in humility. All of us, without exception, are guilty before God. Let us, even the best

amongst us, only mark what our thoughts most easily recur to, and what they fix upon with the greatest

frequency and delight, in those seasons when there is nothing particular to engage them, and we shall

find no great cause for self-preference and self-complacency, Such a view of ourselves would shew us

what we are before Him “who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins;” and would convince us that we

need to abase ourselves before him with self-lothing and self-abhorrence.

We must also turn to him in faith. There is but one Mediator between God and man, whose merits and

intercession must be the only grounds of our hope. In him, even in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must trust:

we must make mention of his name and of his righteousness, even his only: and we must believe that

God, for his sake, is willing to accept the very chief of sinners.

We must yet further turn to him in an unreserved devotedness both of heart and life. Mark, how entirely

the heart of an unregenerate man gives itself to the world! Not that he never engages in religious duties;

but, whatever he does, his affections are set upon things below, and not on things above. The very

reverse of this is our duty: we are not to be so occupied with heavenly pursuits, as to neglect the duties of

our place and station; but, in the midst of all our earthly occupations, God must have our hearts: his

command must be the reason, his word the rule, and his honour the end, of all our actions. To fulfil his

will, and enjoy his presence, should be the one object of our lives.]

Nor shall we decline this duty, if we consider what the text proposes for,

II. Our encouragement—

God will “shew mercy” to returning penitents—

[If it were doubtful whether our efforts would prove effectual for our salvation, we should not readily

undertake the work of mortifying sin, and of turning unto God. But there is no doubt: for God delighteth in

the exercise of mercy: “judgment is his strange work,” to which he is utterly averse: “he willeth not the

death of any sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.” He invites us and

expostulates with us in the most tender manner, “Turn ye: turn ye! why will ye die?” “Wilt thou not be

made clean? O, when shall it once be?” — — — Let but the assurances of mercy which the Scripture

affords to penitent sinners be considered, and no one will want a motive for abandoning his sins, and for

returning to his God.]

He will “abundantly pardon” transgressions, however multiplied they may have been—

[They whom iniquities have been heinous and long-continued, are apt to despond, and to imagine

themselves beyond the reach of mercy. But none need to despair: God’s mercy is infinite: though our sins

may have been numerous as the sands upon the sea-shore, his mercies will far exceed them: “as the

heaven in high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” See what sinners have

been forgiven! mark the transgressions of David, Manasseh, Peter, and others; see the peculiar

aggravations of their guilt! and then say whether God will not multiply his pardons to the very utmost

extent of our necessities? — — — After such a view of God’s mercy, our hearts must be harder than

adamant, if we refuse to repent, and to turn unto him.]

Address—To those who,

1. Presume upon God’s mercy—

[You are at ease, because God is merciful: but are his mercies ever promised to those who live and die in

sin? Are

not rather his judgments denounced against them? Search the Scriptures, and see if you can find one

word to comfort those who persist in wilful impenitence: alas! you will soon find to your cost, that, as God

is merciful to repenting sinners, so will he fulfil the declaration, that “except ye repent, ye shall all perish.”]

2. Limit it—

[Satan’s first device for the retaining of sinners under his dominion is, to represent God to them as a

Being who it too merciful to punish them. His next endeavour is, to make them believe that their sins are

too great to be forgiven, and that there is not mercy enough in the heart of God to pardon such

transgressors as they. But, if any of us are tempted to entertain such thoughts of the Deity, let us only

reflect upon the words of the text, and the many passages of Scripture which illustrate and confirm them,

and we shall see at once the folly and impiety of limiting his mercies. Let such persons at least put the

matter to a trial; and they shall find, by sweet experience, that “whatsoever cometh unto him, he will in no

wise cast out.”]

3. Abuse it—

[Are there those in the world, who, because they have obtained mercy (as they think), are remiss in

“working out their salvation?” Are there those who imagine, that, because they have “once overcome the

world, they may be again entangled therein, and overcome” by it, without any danger to their souls? Let

them know, that they are fatally deluded; and that, if they do not awake from their stupor, “their last end

will be worse than their beginning.” If the mercy of God do not stimulate us to an unfeigned renunciation

of all sin, and an unremitting activity in his service, we shall in vain hope that it shall be exercised towards

us in the day of judgment.]

4. Enjoy it—

[What reason have you to admire and adore the goodness of your God! O, let a lively sense of it be ever

on your minds. Be meditating daily how you shall most acceptably express your gratitude towards him.

Labour to glorify him to the uttermost. Commend him to your fellow-sinners. Let your “ways” be such as

shall be well-pleasing in his sight. Let your “thoughts” be devoutly occupied in praises and thanksgivings

to him. And let your fellowship with him become daily more sweet, more intimate, and more abiding. Thus

shall his mercy, which has already abounded towards you, be displayed in yet richer communications to

all eternity.]

3. GILL, “Let the wicked forsake his way,.... His evil way, as the Targum paraphrases it, his wicked course of life; and which is his own way, of his own choosing, and in which he delights, and a very dangerous one it is; and yet he is bent upon it, and nothing can turn him from it but efficacious grace; nor will he ever forsake it till he sees the evil, danger, and loathsomeness of it; and when he does forsake it, it is so as not to make sin the course of his life, though he does not and cannot live without sin. The word for "wicked" signifies restless, troublesome, and ungodly, and is expressive of the pollution and guilt of sin all are under. Some are notoriously wicked, and all men are wicked in the account of God, though they may think otherwise themselves; and they become so their own apprehensions, when they are thoroughly awakened and convinced of sin, and of the evil of their ways, and are enabled to forsake them: though this may also be understood of "his own way" of saving himself, which is by works of righteousness he has done, in opposition to God's way of saving men by Jesus Christ; which way of his own must be relinquished, and Christ alone must be applied unto, and laid hold on, for salvation: and the unrighteous man his thoughts: not his natural thoughts, but his sinful ones, his wrong thoughts of religion, righteousness, and salvation; particularly his thoughts of being justified by his own righteousness; which thoughts are to be forsaken, as being contrary to God's way of justifying sinners; and as all men are unrighteous, are destitute of righteousness, and full of unrighteousness, so is the self-righteous person; and he must be divested of all thoughts of his own righteousness, and acknowledge himself an unrighteous man, ere he receives mercy, forgiveness, righteousness and salvation, at the hands of the Lord: and let him return unto the Lord; from whom he has departed, against whom he has sinned, and who only can save him; and this he does when he comes and acknowledges his sin before the Lord, implores his grace and mercy, and attends his word and worship; all which is the fruit and effect of powerful and efficacious grace, in turning and drawing. The Targum is, "and let him turn to the worship of the Lord:'' and he will have mercy upon him; which shows that the returning of the sinner to God is not meritorious, it is mercy still to receive him; and which is here mentioned as the motive to return; there is an abundance of it with the Lord, and he has resolved and promised to show it, and he takes delight in it, and many are the instances of it:

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon; God is to be applied unto, not as an absolute God, or out of Christ; but as our God in Christ, in whom he has proclaimed his name, a God gracious and merciful, and so he does abundantly pardon. The promise of pardon is absolute and unconditional, and is here observed as the motive to forsake sin, and not that as the condition of pardon; the design is to comfort those that are distressed with sin; God does and will pardon, and none but he can, and he has declared that he will; forgiveness is with him, and it is published in the Gospel, and there have been many instances of it. The Lord does abundantly pardon, or "multiply to pardon" (m); he pardons all sorts of sinners, and all sorts of sins; original sin, actual sins and transgressions; all backslidings and revoltings; all but the sin against the Holy Ghost.

4. JAMISON, “unrighteous — Hebrew, “man of iniquity”; true of all men. The “wicked” sins

more openly in “his way”; the “unrighteous” refers to the more subtle workings of sin in the

“thoughts.” All are guilty in the latter respect, thought many fancy themselves safe, because not

openly “wicked in ways” (Psa_94:11). The parallelism is that of gradation. The progress of the

penitent is to be from negative reformation, “forsaking his way,” and a farther step, “his

thoughts,” to positive repentance, “returning to the Lord” (the only true repentance, Zec_12:10),

and making God his God, along with the other children of God (the crowning point;

appropriation of God to ourselves: “to our God”). “Return” implies that man originally walked

with God, but has apostatized. Isaiah saith, “our God,” the God of the believing Israelites; those

themselves redeemed desire others to come to their God (Psa_34:8; Rev_22:17).

abundantly pardon — Literally, “multiply to pardon,” still more than “have mercy”; God’s graciousness is felt more and more the longer one knows Him (Psa_130:7).

5. CALVIN. “7.Let the wicked man forsake his way. He confirms the former statement; for, having

formerly called men to receive the grace of God, he now describes more largely the manner of receiving

it. We know how hypocrites loudly call on God whenever they desire relief from their distresses, and yet

shut up their hearts by wicked obstinacy; (86) and therefore, that the Jews may not be hypocritical in

seeking God, he exhorts them to sincere piety. Hence we infer that the doctrine of repentance ought

always to accompany the promise of salvation; for in no other way can men taste the goodness of God

than by abhorring themselves on account of their sins, and renouncing themselves and the world. And

indeed no man will sincerely desire to be reconciled to God and to obtain pardon of sins till he is moved

by a true and earnest repentance.

By three forms of expression he describes the nature of repentance, — first, “ the wicked man forsake, his

way;” secondly, “ unrighteous man his thoughts;” thirdly, “ him return to the Lord.” Under the word way he

includes the whole course of life, and accordingly demands that they bring forth the fruits of righteousness

as witnesses of their newness of life. By adding the word thoughts he intimates that we must not only

correct outward actions, but must begin with the heart; for although in the opinion of men we appear to

change our manner of life for the better, yet we shall have made little proficiency if the heart be not

changed.

Thus repentance embraces a change of the whole man; for in man we view inclinations, purposes, and

then works. The works of men are visible, but the root within is concealed. This must first be changed,

that it may afterwards yield fruitful works. We must first wash away from the mind all uncleanness, and

conquer wicked inclinations, that outward testimonies may afterwards be added. And if any man boast

that he has been changed, and yet live as he was wont to do, it will be vain-boasting; for both are

requisite, conversion of the heart, and change of life.

Besides, God does not command us to return to him before he has applied a remedy to revolt; for

hypocrites will willingly endure that we praise what is good and right, provided that they be at liberty to

crouch amidst their filth. But we can have nothing to do with God if we do not withdraw from ourselves,

especially when we have been alienated by wicked variance; and therefore self-denial goes before, that it

may lead us to God.

And he will have mercy on him. We ought carefully to examine this context, for he shows that men cannot

be led to repentance in any other way than by holding out assurance of pardon. Whoever, then,

inculcates the doctrine of repentance, without mentioning the mercy of God and reconciliation through

free grace, labors to no purpose; just as the Popish doctors imagine that they have discharged their duty

well when they have dwelt largely on this point, and yet do but chatter and trifle about the doctrine of

repentance. But although they taught the true method of repenting, yet it would be of little avail, seeing

that they leave out the foundation of freely pardon, by which alone consciences can be pacified. And

indeed, as we have formerly said, a sinner will always shrink from the presence of God so long as he is

dragged to his judgment-seat to give an account of his life, and will never be subdued to fear and

obedience till his heart is brought into a state of peace.

For he aboundeth in pardoning. Now, because it is difficult to remove terror from trembling minds, Isaiah

draws all argument from the nature of God, that he will be ready to pardon and to be reconciled. Thus the

Holy Spirit dwells on this part of doctrine, because we always doubt whether or not God is willing to

pardon us; for, although we entertain some thoughts of his mercy, yet we do not venture fully to believe

that, it belongs to us. It is not without reason, therefore, that this clause is added, that we may not be

hindered by uncertainty or doubt as to his infinite compassion toward us.

(86) “Par une obstination mechante.”

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

1.BARNES, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts - Interpreters have differed in regard to the connection of this verse with the preceding. It is evident, I think, that it is properly connected with the subject of pardon; and the sense must be, that the plans and purposes of God in regard to forgiveness are as far above those of people as the heavens are higher than the earth, Isa_55:9. But in what respects his plan of pardon differs from those of people, the prophet does not intimate, and can be understood only by the views which are presented in other parts of the Bible. The connection here would seem to demand some such view as the following:

1. People find it difficult to pardon at all. They harbor malice; they seek revenge; they are slow to forgive an injury. Not so with God. He harbors no malice; he has no desire of revenge; he has no reluctance to forgive.

2. It may refer to the number of offences. People, if they forgive once, are slow to forgive a second time, and still more reluctant to forgive a third time, and if the offence is often repeated they refuse to forgive altogether. Not so with God. No matter how often we have violated his law, yet be can multiply forgiveness in proportion to our faults.

3. The number of the offenders. People may pardon one or a few who injure them, but if the number is greatly increased, their compassions are closed, and they feel that the world is arrayed against them. Not so with God. No matter how numerous the offenders - though they embrace the inhabitants of the whole world - yet he can extend forgiveness to them all.

4. In regard to the aggravation of offences. People forgive a slight injury. However, if it is aggravated, they are slow to pardon. But not so with God. No matter bow aggravated the offence, he is ready to forgive. It may be added:

5. That his thoughts in regard to the mode of pardon are far above ours. The plan of forgiveness through a Redeemer - the scheme of pardon so fully illustrated in Isa_53:1-12, and on which the reasoning of the prophet here is based - is as far above any of the modes of pardon among people, as the heavens are above the earth. The scheme which contemplated the incarnation of the Son of God; which proffered forgiveness only through his substituted sufferings, and in virtue of his bitter death, was one which man could not have thought of, and which surpasses all the schemes and plans of people. In this respect, God’s ways are not, our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts.

But at the same time that this passage, refers primarily to the subject of pardon, and should be interpreted as having a main reference to that, it is also true of the ways of God in general. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not ours in regard to his plans in the creation and government of the world. He has plans for accomplishing his purposes which are different from ours, and he secures our own welfare by schemes that cross our own. He disappoints our hopes; foils our expectations; crosses our designs; removes our property, or our friends; and thwarts our purposes in life. He leads us in a path which we bad not intended: and secures our ultimate happiness in modes which are contrary to all our designs and desires. It follows from this:

1. That we should form our plans with submission to the higher purposes of God.

2. We should resign ourselves to him when he chooses to thwart our plans, and to take away our comforts.

2. CHARLES SIMEON, “GOD’S WAYS ABOVE OURS

Isa_55:8-9. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord: for as the

heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your

thoughts.

MEN are apt to judge of God by themselves, and to suppose him restricted by such laws as they deem

proper for their own observance. The wicked almost reduce him to a level with themselves in a moral view

[Note: Psa_50:21.]: and even the godly form very inadequate conceptions of his ways and works. Of this

God himself apprises us in the words before us; which we shall elucidate by shewing how different his

thoughts and ways are from what we should have expected with respect to,

I. The objects of his choice—

[If we thought to take a person into the nearest relation to ourselves, we should be inclined to prefer one

of high rank: if we undertook to instruct a person, we should select one who was intelligent and docile: or

if we purposed to confer any favour, we should look out for an object that was worthy of it. But God acts in

a very different manner. He takes the poor in preference to the rich [Note: Mat_11:5. Jam_2:5. Joh_7:48.]

— — — the ignorant before the wise [Note: Mat_11:25-26. 1Co_1:19-20.] — — — and, in many

instances, the vile before those, whose lives have been more moral [Note: Mat_21:31-32; Mat_19:20-22.

contrasted withLuk_7:37; Luk_7:47 and 1Ti_1:13.] — — — Not that God disregards morality, where it

flows from proper principles, and has respect to his glory: but his grace is his own [Note: Mat_20:15.]; and

he will impart it to whomsoever he will [Note: Rom_9:15-16.], without accounting himself responsible to

any for the distribution of his favours [Note: Job_33:13. Rom_9:20.].

This exactly accords with the experience of the primitive saints [Note: See 2Sa_7:18-19. 1Co_1:26-29.],

and with the Church of God in every age and place — — —]

II. The extent of his love—

[If it were told us that God would shew mercy to our fallen race, what should we have been led to expect

at his hands? We should scarcely have raised our thoughts higher than an exemption from punishment.

Indeed, this is the limit which unenlightened men universally assign to God’s mercy; “He is merciful,

therefore he will not punish.” But who would have ever thought, that he should so love us, as to give his

only dear Son to die for us? — — — Who would have conceived, that he should moreover send his Holy

Spirit to dwell in our hearts as our instructor, sanctifier, and comforter? — — — Who would have

imagined that he should givehimself to us, with all that he is, and all that he has, as our present and

everlasting portion? — — — Is not all this “as much above our thoughts as the heavens are above the

earth?”]

III. The methods by which he accomplishes towards us the purposes of his grace—

[Supposing us informed that God would take us to heaven, we should be ready to think, that certainly he

would deliver us at once from temporal affliction, and more especially from spiritual conflicts. Would it

ever enter our minds, that the objects of his eternal love should be left to endure the pressures of want, or

the agonies of a cruel death? Could we once imagine, that they should be exposed, year after year, to the

assaults of Satan: and be suffered, on many occasions, to wound their consciences, to defile their souls,

and to grieve his good Spirit, by the commission of sin? Yet these are the ways in which he deals with

them, and it is by these means that he “fulfils in them the good pleasure of his goodness [Note: God does

not approve of sin, or tempt to sin: but he makes use of the sins which men commit, to humble them in

the dust, and to magnify his own superabounding mercy. Rom_5:20-21. Thus he permitted the fall of

Peter, and overruled it for good,Luk_22:31-32.; but that permission neither excused, nor extenuated

Peter’s guilt. The sin was the same, whether it were pardoned or punished: but the grace of Christ was

eminently displayed in the pardon of it; and backsliders have over since derived much encouragement

from thence (not to deny their Lord, but) to repent, and turn to God.].” Nor is this a mere arbitrary

appointment: for, by these means, he discovers to us far more abundantly the riches of his grace, and

affords us more ample grounds for praise and thanksgiving [Note: The deliverance vouchsafed to the

Israelites was not a little enhanced by their oppression in Egypt, and their subsequent embarrassments.].

The way is circuitous indeed; but it is the right way to the promised land [Note: Psa_107:7.].]

Improvement—

1. How should we magnify and adore our God for the blessings of his grace!

[Well may every child of God exclaim with wonder, What manner of love is this wherewith thou hast loved

me, that thou shouldest give thine only dear Son to redeem me by his blood, and thine eternal Spirit to

sanctify me by his grace? In the review of his own life he may well add, ‘Why me, Lord? why hast thou

chosen me, and borne with me, and plucked me as a brand out of the burning? Why too hast thou used

such methods for my recovery and salvation?’ Yes verily, in the review of all these mercies, he must of

necessity exclaim, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and let all that is within me bless his holy name.”]

2. How submissive should we be under the darkest dispensations of his Providence!

[While we are saying, with Jacob, “All these things are against me,” perhaps the very dispensations, of

which we so complain, are absolutely necessary to our eternal welfare [Note: Perhaps something which

has met us unexpectedly has been, like Abigail, God’s messenger to keep us from some deadly

sin. 1Sa_25:17-33.]. Let this thought silence every murmur, and encourage us to say, even in the most

afflictive circumstances, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him [Note: Job_13:15.].”]

3. How should we acknowledge God even in the most trivial occurrences!

[There is no occurrence really trivial, or unimportant: for there is such a concatenation of causes and

effects fixed in the Divine purpose, that the most important events depend on circumstances, which seem

to us altogether trifling and contingent [Note: Luk_19:3-4; Luk_19:9.]. Let the life of Joseph be surveyed,

and we shall find that a thousand different things, apparently casual and independent, concurred to

accomplish God’s promises towards him. Thus it is with respect to us; and it is our privilege to

“acknowledge God in all our ways,” and to commit ourselves wholly to his guidance.]

4. What a glorious place will heaven be!

[There the whole of the Divine dispensations towards us will be opened to our view. There Gods “ways,

which were in the great deep, and his footsteps, which were not known,” nor perhaps capable of being

comprehended by us in this world, will be clearly seen. O! what wonders of love and mercy shall we then

behold! With what rapture shall we then exclaim, O the depths [Note: Rom_11:33.]! Let us then wait a few

days; and the most painful events of this life shall be a source of everlasting joy.]

3. GILL, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,.... In some things there may be a likeness between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of men, as to the nature of them: thoughts are natural and essential to them both; they are within them, are internal acts, and unknown to others, till made known; but then the thoughts of men are finite and limited, whereas the thoughts of the Lord are infinite and boundless; men's thoughts have a beginning, but the Lord's have none; though not so much the nature as the quality of them is here intended: the thoughts of men are evil, even the imagination of their thoughts, yea, every imagination is, and that always and only so; but the thoughts of God are holy, as appears from his purposes and covenant, and all his acts of grace, in redemption, calling, and preparing his people for glory: the thoughts of men, as to the object of them, are vain, and nothing worth; their thoughts and sentiments of things are very different from the Lord's, as about sin, concerning Christ, the truths of the Gospel, the people of God, religion, holiness, and a future state, and in reference to the business of salvation; they think they can save themselves; that their own works of righteousness are sufficient to justify them; their privileges and profession such, that they shall be saved; their wisdom, riches, and honour, a security to them from damnation: however, that their sincere obedience, with repentance for what is amiss, will entitle them to happiness: but the thoughts of God are the reverse of all this; particularly with respect to pardoning mercy their thoughts are different; carnal men think of mercy, but not of justice, and of having pardoning mercy in an absolute way, and not through Christ, and without conversion and repentance; and so this is a reason why men's thoughts are to be forsaken, because so very unlike to the Lord's. Or else these words are to be considered as an argument, proving that God does abundantly pardon all returning sinners; since he is not like men, backward to forgive, especially great and aggravated crimes, but is ready, free, and willing to forgive, even those of the most aggravated circumstances. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord; the ways which God prescribes and directs men to walk in are different from theirs; his are holy, theirs unholy; his are plain, theirs crooked; his are ways of light, theirs ways of darkness; his are pleasant, theirs not so, at least in the issue; his lead to life, theirs to death; and therefore there is good reason why they should leave their evil ways, and walk in his. Moreover, the ways which he takes in the salvation of men are different from those which they, naturally pursue, and especially in the pardon of sin; he pardons freely, fully, without any reserve, or private grudge, forgetting as well as forgiving.

4. HENRY, “Here are encouragements given us to accept this offer and to venture our souls upon it. For, look which way we will, we find enough to confirm us in our belief of its validity and value.

1. If we look up to heaven, we find God's counsels there high and transcendent, his thoughts and ways infinitely above ours, Isa_55:8, Isa_55:9. The wicked are urged to forsake their evil ways and thoughts (Isa_55:7) and to return to God, that is, to bring their ways and thoughts to concur and comply with his; “for” (says he) “my thoughts and ways are not as yours. Yours are conversant only about things beneath; they are of the earth earthy: but mine are above, as the heaven is high above the earth; and, if you would approve yourselves true penitents, yours must be so too, and your affections must be set on things above.” Or, rather, it is to be understood as an encouragement to us to depend upon God's promise to pardon sin, upon repentance. Sinners may be ready to fear that God will not be reconciled to them, because they could not find in their hearts to be reconciled to one who should have so basely and so frequently offended them. “But” (says God) “my thoughts in this matter are not as yours, but as far above them as the heaven is above the earth.” They are so in other things. Men's sentiments concerning sin, and Christ, and holiness, concerning this world and the other, are vastly different from God's; but in nothing more than in the matter of reconciliation. We think God apt to take offence and backward to

forgive - that, if he forgives once, he will not forgive a second time. Peter thought it a great deal to forgive seven times (Mat_18:21), and a hundred pence go far with us; but God meets returning sinners with pardoning mercy; he forgives freely, and as he gives: it is without upbraiding. We forgive and cannot forget; but, when God forgives sin, he remembers it no more. Thus God invites sinners to return to him, by possessing them with good thoughts of him, as Jer_31:20.

5. JAMISON, “For — referring to Isa_55:7. You need not doubt His willingness “abundantly to pardon” (compare Isa_55:12); for, though “the wicked” man’s “ways,” and “the unrighteous man’s thoughts,” are so aggravated as to seem unpardonable, God’s “thoughts” and “ways” in pardoning are not regulated by the proportion of the former, as man’s would be towards his fellow man who offended him; compare the “for” (Psa_25:11; Rom_5:19).

6. K&D, “The appeal, to leave their own way and their own thoughts, and yield themselves to God the Redeemer, and to His word, is now urged on the ground of the heaven-wide difference between the ways and thoughts of this God and the despairing thoughts of men (Isa_40:27; Isa_49:24), and their aimless labyrinthine ways. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah: no, heaven is high above the earth; so high are

my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.” The kı (imo) introduces the undeniable statement of a fact patent to the senses, for the purpose of clearly setting forth, by way of comparison, the relation in which the ways and thoughts of God stand to those of man.

There is no necessity to supply כאשר after יR, as Hitzig and Knobel do. It is simply omitted, as in

Isa_62:5 and Jer_3:20, or like ןR in Pro_26:11, etc. On what side the heaven-wide elevation is to be seen, is shown in what follows. They are not so fickle, so unreliable, or so powerless.

7. CALVIN. “8.For my thoughts are not your thoughts. This passage is expounded in various ways.

Some think that it condemns universally the life of men, that they may not be satisfied with it or flatter their

vices; for we cannot approach to God but by taking away a false conviction of our own righteousness.

And indeed none call for physicians but those who are driven by the violence of disease to seek both

health and remedies. Accordingly, this passage is compared by them to that saying of our Lord,

“ ranks high among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luk_16:15)

But the Prophet’ meaning, I think, is different, and is more correctly explained, according to my judgment,

by other commentators, who think that he draws a distinction between God’ disposition and man’

disposition. Men are wont to judge and measure God from themselves; for their hearts are moved by

angry passions, and are very difficult to be appeased; and therefore they think that they cannot be

reconciled to God, when they have once offended him. But the Lord shows that he is far from resembling

men. As if he had said, “ am not a mortal man, that I should show myself to be harsh and irreconcilable to

you. (87) My thoughts are very different from yours. If you are implacable, and can with difficulty be

brought back to a state of friendship with those from whom you have received an injury, I am not like you,

that I should treat you so cruelly.”

(87) “Pour vous estre rude et ennemi a jamais.” “ as to be harsh and an enemy to you for ever.”

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

1.BARNES, “For as the heavens ... - This verse is designed merely to illustrate the idea in the former. There is as great a difference between the plans of God and those of people, as between the heavens and the earth. A similar comparison occurs in Psa_103:11 -

For as the heaven is high alcove the earth, So great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Compare Psa_57:10 -

For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, And thy truth unto the clouds.

Also Psa_89:2 -

Mercy shall be built up forever, Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

The idea in all these passages is substantially the same - that the mercy and compassion of God are illimitable.

2. CLARKE, “For as the heavens are higher - I am persuaded that כ caph, the particle of

comparison, is lost in this place, from the likeness of the particle כי ki, immediately preceding it.

So Houbigant and Secker. And their remark is confirmed by all the ancient Versions, which express it; and by the following passage of Psa_103:11, which is almost the same: -

כי כגבה שמים על הארץ

haarets al shamayim chigboah ki גבר חסדו על יראיו

yereaiv al chasdo gabar

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, So high is his goodness over them that fear him.”

Where, by the nature of the sentence, the verb in the second line ought to be the same with

that in the first; גבה gabah, not גבר gabar: so Archbishop Secker conjectured; referring however to Psa_117:2.

3. GILL, “For as the heavens, are higher than the earth,.... Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance: so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts; which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and their excellency and preciousness; as well as the very great distance between his ways and thoughts and men's which this is designed to illustrate.

4. JAMISON, “(Psa_57:10; Psa_89:2; Psa_103:11). “For” is repeated from Isa_55:8. But

Maurer, after the negation, translates, “but.”

5. CALVIN. “9.For as the heavens are higher than the earth. This agrees well with that passage in

which David, describing the mercy of God, says, (Psa_103:11) that it is as much more excellent “ the

heavens are higher than the earth;” for although the application is different, yet the meaning is the same.

In short, God is infinitely compassionate and infinitely ready to forgive; so that it ought to be ascribed

exclusively to our unbelief, if we do not obtain pardon from him. (88)

There is nothing that troubles our consciences more than when we think that God is like ourselves; for the

consequence is, that we do not venture to approach to him, and flee from him as an enemy, and are

never at rest. But they who measure God by themselves as a standard form a false idea and altogether

contrary to his nature; and indeed they cannot do him a greater injury than this. Are men, who are

corrupted and debased by sinful desires, not ashamed to compare God’ lofty and uncorrupted nature with

their own, and to confine what is infinite within those narrow limits by which they feel themselves to be

wretchedly restrained? In what prison could any of us be more straightly shut up than in our own

unbelief?

This appears to me to be the plain and simple meaning of the Prophet. And yet I do not deny that he

alludes, at the same time, to the life of men such as he formerly described it to be. In a word, he means

that men must forget themselves, when they wish to be converted to God, and that no obstacle can be

greater or more destructive than when we think that God is irreconcilable. We must therefore root out of

our minds this false imagination.

Moreover, we learn from it how widely they err who abuse the mercy of God, so as to draw from it greater

encouragement to sin. The Prophet reasons thus, “ forsake your ways; for the mercy of God is infinite.”

When men despair or doubt as to obtaining pardon, they usually become more hardened and obstinate;

but when they feel that God is merciful, this draws and converts them. It follows, therefore, that they who

do not cease to live wickedly, and who are not changed in heart, have no share in this mercy.

(88) “ not think,” saith God, “ what I promise is difficult, and let it not seem incredible to you, that a wicked

and unjust man, or the people of the Jews, or all who among the Gentiles knew not God, can be saved.

Consider this, that there is a wide difference between your purposes and mine, and that the difference of

will is as great as the difference of nature; for there are many thoughts in the heart of a man, but the

purpose of the Lord endureth for ever. You, like men who often repent of what they have promised, have

thrown down the ancient will, and have set up in its place a modern will. But the thoughts of his heart are

from generation to generation, and whatever he hath decreed cannot be changed.” Jerome.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the

eater,

1.BARNES, “For as the rain cometh down - The meaning of this verse and the following is plain. This refers evidently, as the whole passage does, to the times which should succeed the coming of the Messiah. The hearts of people by nature are what the earth would be without the rains of heaven - barren and sterile. But God says that his truth shall certainly accomplish an effect similar to that produced by descending showers. The rain never descends in vain. It makes the earth fertile, beautiful, and lovely. So would it be with his truth in the moral world. The comparison of truth with descending rain or dews is exceedingly beautiful, and occurs not unfrequently in the Bible. See Deu_32:2 -

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew, As the small rain upon the tender herb, And as the showers upon the grass.

Compare 2Sa_23:4; Psa_72:6; Isa_5:6; the note at Isa_44:3.

And the snow - This is a part of the emblem or symbol designed to denote the fertilizing effect of the truth of God. The snow, as well as the rain, accomplishes important purposes in rendering the earth fertile. It constitutes a covering that contributes to the warmth and preservation of plants and vegetation in the colder latitudes, and on the hills and mountains is accumulated in the winter months to fill the streams, or produce the overflowing of the rivers in the spring and the summer. This expression should not, however, be pressed ad unguem in the interpretation, as if it contained any special spiritual signification. It is a part of the general description of that which descends from heaven to render the earth fertile.

From heaven - From the clouds.

And returneth not thither - That is, not in the form in which they descend on the earth. They return not there as rain and snow. The main idea is, they do not return without accomplishing the effect which God intends.

And bud - Put forth its increase; causes it to sprout up, or germinate. The word ‘bud’ is applied rather to the small protuberance on the ends of limbs and branches, which contains the

germ of the future leaf or flower. This word צמח tsa�mach means rather “to germinate,” or to

cause to vegetate in general. It is applied to the putting forth of vegetation. on the earth when the showers descend.

2. CHARLES SIMEON, “RESEMBLANCE OF THE GOSPEL TO RAIN AND SNOW

Isa_55:10-11. As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but

watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the

eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall

accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

THE more just our views of God’s perfections are, the more firm and enlarged will be our expectations

from him. We are apt to distrust his mercy and love, because we “judge him to be such an one as

ourselves:” whereas, if we considered how infinitely remote his ways and thoughts are from ours, we

should repose the most unlimited confidence in him, and have every fear swallowed up in the

contemplation of his power and grace. These considerations are proposed by God himself as an

encouragement to us to return from our evil ways; and, in the words before us, we are assured, that the

blessings which he will convey to us through the medium of his word, shall be as free, as certain, as

abundant, as those which he imparts to the earth by means of the rain and snow. In illustrating this

comparison, we shall trace the resemblance between the word, and the rain or snow,

I. In their origin—

“The rain and snow come down from heaven”—

[If the whole world should unite their efforts to produce rain, they would never accomplish their end. It is

God who forms the clouds, and causes them to water the earth: and therefore to him we must

acknowledge ourselves indebted for every shower that falls. Of this we are frequently reminded in the

Scriptures [Note:Psa_147:8. Job_38:25-28.]: and the gods of the Heathen are challenged, if they can, to

exert a similar power, and thus establish their right to the honours ascribed to them [Note: Jer_14:22.].]

The word of the Gospel also “cometh forth out of God’s mouth” —

[It proceeded from God originally; the words of “prophecy came not of men; but holy men of God spake

as they were moved by the Holy Ghost [Note: 2Pe_1:21.]:” yea, “all Scripture,” and not the prophetic parts

only, “was given by inspiration of God [Note: 2Ti_3:16.].” Moreover the Gospel, when faithfully preached,

is also at this time from God. It is God who instructs his servants, and qualifies them to declare his truth:

and the word delivered by them is, “not the word of man, but in truth the word of God.” We mean not to

insinuate, that any persons now have the same kind of inspiration which was vouchsafed to the Apostles:

but every faithful minister is taught and directed of God what to say, and is assisted in the delivery of his

message [Note: Mat_28:20. And though we cannot strictly apply to ourselves such passages

as Mar_13:11, and Luk_21:14-15. yet they teach us what assistance to expect from Christ, provided we

apply to him in the diligent use of means.]. As an ambassador of God, he speaks altogether in God’s

name, and may address every one of his audience in the words of Ehud to Eglon. “I have a message

from God to thee [Note: Jdg_3:20.].”]

But the resemblance between the word and the rain is yet more strongly marked,

II. In their operation—

The “rain and snow” are the means of rendering the earth fruitful—

[If the earth be only a few months without rain, the most calamitous consequences ensue [Note:

See Jer_14:2-6.]: but if the parched and thirsty earth be visited with rain or snow, its vegetative powers

are revived, and it yields an abundance of food for man and beast [Note: Psa_65:9-13.]; yea, there is a

sufficiency not only for the present consumption, but for “sowing,” in order to a future crop.]

The word of God also is instrumental to the fructifying of the souls of men—

[God has many gracious ends to “accomplish” by his word: sometimes he sends it to quicken the dead;

and then even “the bones that are dry, very dry,” are made to live [Note: Eze_37:1-

10. Psa_119:50. Jam_1:18.]. Sometimes he sends it to comfort the afflicted; and then it proves as balm to

the wounded spirit, nor can the most distressed mind withstand its energy [Note: Psa_107:8-

20. Deu_32:2.]. Sometimes he sends it to sanctify the polluted; and then the most inveterate lusts give

way, and his people are transformed into his image [Note: Joh_15:3; Joh_17:17. Eph_5:26.]. Finally, by

its various operations he determines to save the lost; and behold, it stops not short of his purpose: it

“prospers in the thing whereto he has sent it,” and becomes “the power of God unto salvation to every

one that believeth [Note: Rom_1:16. 1Co_1:21.].”

An easterly wind may counteract the benefits which would accrue from the rain; but not all the powers of

hell shall be able to defeat the purposes of God, in sending his word: “it never returns unto him void:”

weak as it seems to be when delivered by sinful man, it yet is “sharper than any two-edged sword

[Note: Heb_4:12.];” it “casts down every thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ, and brings

into obedience to him” the heart that would resist its power [Note: 2Co_10:4-5.].]

Let us learn then from this beautiful comparison,

1. The importance of attending the preached word—

[We know not when it is that God intends to send his word home to our hearts; and therefore we should

always be found waiting upon him in the way of his appointment. The man who was healed at the pool of

Bethesda had been there many years; and if he had absented himself on the day that Jesus visited the

place, he had lost the blessing that was designed for him [Note: Joh_5:1-9.]. However long therefore we

may have attended at the house of God, apparently in vain, it becomes us still to tarry the Lord’s leisure,

and to expect the showers of his grace in due season.]

2. The danger of despising it—

[The text, though often interpreted as comprehending God’s judicial purposes, does not properly relate to

them; for, as the rain is not spoken of as deluging the earth, but only as rendering it fruitful, so the parallel

between the Gospel and the rain should be drawn only as relating to mercies, and not to judgments.

Nevertheless we may notice in this place, that, as God sent his miracles to harden Pharaoh’s heart, so he

may, and often does, send his word to blind, and harden the hearts of proud opposers. This was the end

of the commission given to Isaiah [Note: Isa_6:9-10.]; and, though it was not the primary intent of Christ

when he preached to the people in parables, it constituted a part of his design in relation to the proud,

cavilling, and incorrigible Pharisees [Note: Luk_8:10.]: and the same end is accomplished, though

not primarily intended, in respect to thousands of infidels in every age [Note: Rom_11:8. Act_28:26-27.].

Beware then, lest God “take you in your own craftiness:” for whether you receive his word or not, “it shall

not go forth in vain:” if it be not “a savour of life unto life, it will prove a savour of death unto death

[Note: 2Co_2:16.].”]

3. The benefit of praying over it—

[It is not in the power of man to command a blessing on the word. “Paul may preach in vain, and Apollos

water in vain, unless God give the increase [Note: 1Co_3:6-7.].” But if we pray to God, he will send us

such a word as shall be suited to us; such a word as shall make us ready to think that the minister has

received private information respecting us; such a word as shall discover to us our whole hearts

[Note: Joh_4:29.], and constrain us to fall down on our faces, and confess that God is indeed present in

his ordinances [Note: 1Co_14:25.]. The minister may draw the bow at a ventures but God will direct the

arrow between the joints of the harness, and cause it to pierce our inmost souls [Note: 2Ki_22:34.]. Let us

then pray that God would direct and assist the minister, and render his word effectual to our good. Thus

shall we secure to ourselves a blessing, and, like the refreshed earth, bring forth fruit suited to the culture

bestowed upon us [Note: Heb_6:7.].]

3. GILL, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,.... Rain and snow come down from the clouds in the heavens, and do not return again until they have done what they are sent to do, or have produced the following effects; otherwise they may be exhaled into vapours, as they often are, and drawn up again by the sun: but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud; or, "inebriateth the earth" (n); soaks into it, and reaches the seed that is sown in it, and causes that to spring up, and rise into stalk and ear: that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; produce a sufficiency for food both for man and beast, and enough for seed to sow the ground with the following year.

4. HENRY, “If we look down to this earth, we find God's word there powerful and effectual, and answering all its great intentions, Isa_55:10, Isa_55:11. Observe here, (1.) The efficacy of God's word in the kingdom of nature. He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; he appoints when it shall come, to what degree, and how long it shall lie there; he saith so to the small rain and the great rain of his strength, Job_37:6. And according to his order they come down from heaven, and do whatsoever he commands them upon the face of the world, whether it be for correction, or for his land, or for mercy, Isa_55:12, Isa_55:13. It returns not re infectâ - without having accomplished its end, but waters the earth, which he is therefore said to do from his chambers, Psa_104:13. And the watering of the earth is in order to its fruitfulness. Thus he makes it to bring forth and bud, for the products of the earth depend upon the dews of heaven; and thus it gives not only bread to the eater, present maintenance to the owner and his family, but seed likewise to the sower, that he may have food for another year. The husbandman must be a sower as well as an eater, else he will soon see the end of what he has. (2.) The efficacy of his word in the kingdom of providence and grace, which is as certain as the former: “So shall my word be, as powerful in the mouth of prophets as it is in the hand of providence; it shall not return unto me void, as unable to effect what it was sent for, or meeting with an insuperable opposition; no, it shall accomplish that which I please” (for it is the declaration of his will, according to the counsel of which he works all things) “and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” This assures us, [1.] That the promises of God shall all have their full accomplishment in due time, and not one iota or tittle of them shall fail, 1Ki_8:56. These promises of mercy and grace shall have as real an effect upon the souls of believers, for their sanctification and comfort, as ever the rain had upon the earth, to make it fruitful. [2.] That according to the different errands on which the word is sent it will have its different effects. If it be not a savour of life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death; if it do not convince the conscience and soften the heart, it will sear the conscience and harden the heart; if it do not ripen for heaven, it will ripen for hell. See Isa_6:9. One way or other, it will take effect. [3.] That Christ's coming into the world, as the dew from heaven (Hos_14:5), will not be in vain. For, if Israel be not gathered, he will be glorious in the conversion of the Gentiles; to them therefore the tenders of grace must be made when the Jews refuse them, that the wedding may be furnished with guests and the gospel not return void.

5. JAMISON, “The hearts of men, once barren of spirituality, shall be made, by the outpouring of the Spirit under Messiah, to bear fruits of righteousness (Isa_5:6; Deu_32:2; 2Sa_23:4; Psa_72:6).

snow — which covers plants from frost in winter; and, when melted in spring, waters the earth.

returneth not — void; as in Isa_55:11; it returns not in the same shape, or without “accomplishing” the desired end.

bud — germinate.

6. K&D, “This is set forth under a figure drawn from the rain and the snow. “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, till it has moistened the earth, and fertilized it, and made it green, and offered seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will my word be which goeth forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me fruitless, till it has accomplished that which I willed, and prosperously carried out that for which I sent it.” The rain and snow come down from the sky, and return not thither till they have .... The

perfects after י אם�R are all to be understood as such (Ewald, §356, a). Rain and snow return as vapour to the sky, but not without having first of all accomplished the purpose of their descent.

And so with the word of Jehovah, which goeth forth out of His mouth (יצא, not יצא, Isa_45:23, because it is thought of as still going on in the preaching of the prophet): it will not return without having effected its object, i.e., without having accomplished what was Jehovah's counsel, or “good pleasure” - without having attained the end for which it was sent by Jehovah (constr. as in 2Sa_11:22; 1Ki_14:6). The word is represented in other places as the messenger of God (Isa_9:8; Psa_107:20; Psa_147:15.). The personification presupposes that it is not a mere sound or letter. As it goeth forth out of the mouth of God it acquires shape, and in this shape is hidden a divine life, because of its divine origin; and so it runs, with life from God, endowed with divine power, supplied with divine commissions, like a swift messenger through nature and the world of man, there to melt the ice, as it were, and here to heal and to save; and does not return from its course till it has given effect to the will of the sender. This return of the word to God also presupposes its divine nature. The will of God, which becomes concrete and audible in the word, is the utterance of His nature, and is resolved into that nature again as soon as it is fulfilled. The figures chosen are rich in analogies. As snow and rain are the mediating causes of growth, and therefore the enjoyment of what is reaped; so is the soil of the human heart softened, refreshed, and rendered productive or prolific by the word out of the mouth of Jehovah; and this word furnishes the prophet, who resembles the sower, with the seed which he scatters, and brings with it bread which feeds the souls: for every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is bread (Deu_8:3).

7. CALVIN. “10.Surely, as the rain cometh down. After having spoken of God’ tender affection and

inconceivable forbearance towards us, he again brings forward the promises, that, by relying on them, we

may banish all doubt of being free from every danger. It would be of little avail to speak to us about the

nature or the secret purpose of God, if we were not reminded of “ word,” by which he reveals himself.

Now, God speaks openly to us, so that it is unnecessary to make longer inquiry. We must therefore come

to the word, in which his will is declared without obscurity, provided that all our senses are confined within

those limits; for otherwise we remain in suspense, and doubt what he has determined concerning us,

even though the Lord declare a thousand times that he is altogether unlike men; for, although men

acknowledge this, yet they wish to be certain about themselves and their salvation. (89) For this reason

we ought carefully to observe the order which is followed by the Prophet. Thus also Moses recalled the

people to the knowledge of God. “ not thou, Who shall ascend to heaven? or, Who shall descend into the

deep? The word is nigh, in thy mouth and in thy heart.” (Deu_30:12) “ is,” saith Paul, “ word of faith which

we preach.” (Rom_10:8)

He employs a comparison drawn from daily experience and wonderfully appropriate; for, if we see great

efficacy in the rain, which waters and fertilizes the earth, much greater efficacy will God display in his

word. The rain is transitory and liable to corruption; but the word is eternal, unchangeable, and

incorruptible, and cannot, like the rain, vanish away.

That we may more fully understand the Prophet’ words, we must keep in view the end at which he aims.

Men doubt if God will actually perform what he promises in his word; for we look upon the word, as if it

were suspended in the air and had no effect. How shocking this is, he demonstrates from the very course

of nature; for it is in the highest degree unreasonable to ascribe less to the word than to a dumb creature;

and therefore he teaches us, that his word never fails of its effect. Some understand this to mean that the

preaching of the Gospel is never unprofitable, but always produces some fruit. This is true in itself; for the

Lord worketh by his Spirit, and “ increase,” (1Co_3:7) so that the labor of his servants is not unproductive.

But the Prophet’ meaning was different; namely, that God does not speak in vain or scatter his promises

into the air, but that we shall actually receive the fruit of them, provided that we do not prevent it by our

unbelief.

But watereth the earth, and causeth it to bring forth. He mentions two effects produced by the watering of

the rain, which fertilizes the earth; first, that men have abundance of food for their support; and secondly,

that they have seed for procuring a crop in the following year. If therefore in things of a transitory nature

the power of God is so great, what must we think of the word? (90)

(89) “Lesquels desirent (s’ veulent dire la verite) estre certains de leur salut, et que ce qu’ deviendront.” “

desire (if they are willing to tell the truth) to be certain about their salvation, and what shall become of

them.”

(90) “ words depend on what goes before, and their meaning may thus be briefly stated. Let not the

people refuse to believe that a wicked man, after having committed great crimes, shall suddenly be

saved. For my thoughts are not as the thoughts of men; and as far as heaven is distant from the earth, so

are my thoughts separated from the thoughts of men. I am most merciful and ready to forgive. Would you

wish to have another metaphor? As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return thither,

but water and refresh the earth, and cause it to bring forth various productions, that the corn-fields may

produce abundance of bread for the use of men; so the word of my promise, which I have promised once

and again, and which hath gone out of my mouth, shall not be void, but all shall be actually fulfilled.” -

Jerome.

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

1.BARNES, “So shall my word be - All the truth which God reveals is as much adapted to produce an effect on the hard and sterile hearts of men as the rain is on the earth.

It shall not return unto me void - It shall not return to me without accomplishing that which I intend.

And it shall prosper - (See the note at Isa_52:13). This proves:

1. That God has a design in giving his Word to people. He has as distinct an intention in his Word as he has in sending down rain upon the earth.

2. That whatever is his design in giving the gospel, it shall be accomplished. It is never spoken in vain, and never fails to produce the effect which he intends. The gospel is no more preached in vain than the rain falls in vain. And though that often falls on barren rocks, or on arid sands; on extended plains where no vegetation is produced, or in the wilderness ‘where no man is,’ and seems to our eyes in vain, yet it is not so. God has a design in each drop that falls on sands or rocks, as really as in the copious shower that falls on fertile fields. And so the gospel often falls on the hard and barren hearts of men. It is addressed to the proud, the sensual, the avaricious, and the unbelieving, and seems to be spoken in vain, and to return void unto God. But it is not so. He has some design in it, and that will be accomplished. It is proof of the fullness of his mercy. It leaves people without excuse, and justifies himself. Or when long presented - apparently long in vain - it ultimately becomes successful, and sinners are at last brought to abandon their sins, and to turn unto God. It is indeed often rejected and despised. It falls on the ears of people apparently as the rain falls on the hard rock, and there are, so to speak, large fields where the gospel is preached as barren and unfruitful of any spiritual good as the extended desert is of vegetation, and the gospel seems to be preached to almost entire communities with as little effect as is produced when the rains fall on the deserts of Arabia, or of Africa. But there will be better and happier times. Though the gospel may not now produce all the good effects which we may desire, yet it will be ultimately successful to the full wish of the widest benevolence, and the whole world shall be filled with the knowledge and the love of God.

2. GILL, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth,.... My good word, as

the Targum; this may either be understood of Christ, the eternal Word, who is called the Word

of God, and may be said to go forth out of his mouth, being spoken of by all his holy prophets,

since the world began, whose coming was like the rain or snow, Hos_6:3, he came from heaven,

from his Father there, and as a free gift of his, and in consequence of a decree, as the rain does;

the manner of his coming, like that, was suddenly, gratefully, and with great efficacy, watering

his people with his grace, through the ministry of the word, and making them fruitful; and

though he returned to heaven again, yet not empty, without fruit and effect; he produced a large

harvest of souls, and procured all blessings of grace for them, and accomplished the whole will

and pleasure of God, in effecting the salvation of his people; and the pleasure of the Lord

prospered in his hand: or else it may be interpreted of God's word of promise; the promises are

made in heaven, and come from thence as the rain and snow do; are the gifts of God's grace; are

very refreshing and reviving, as rain to the earth; and are always effectual, being yea and amen

in Christ Jesus; and being made good, fulfil purposes, or the good will and pleasure of God;

particularly promises concerning Christ, pardon and peace through him; such as are given forth

in this chapter: or rather it may be meant of the word of the Gospel, which is of God; comes from

heaven; is a blessing grace; falls according to divine direction here and there; tarries not for the

expectations, desires, or deserts of men; falls in great plenty; and is a blessing wherever it

comes: it is the means of softening the hard hearts of men; of cooling the conscience set on fire

by the law, and allaying the heat of divine wrath there; and of refreshing and reviving drooping,

disconsolate, and weary souls: it is the means of the first buddings of grace in the Lord's people,

and of the larger exercises and flourishings of it, and of all fruitfulness in good works: it is

productive of seed to Christ the sower, and fruit to his ministers who labour under him, and of

bread to the eater, the believer, whom it furnishes with the bread of life to feed upon by faith:

it shall not return to me void; it is accompanied with a divine energy; it is the power of God to salvation: but it shall accomplish that which I please; in the conversion of sinners, and comfort of saints: and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it: whether it be the savour of life unto life, or the savour of death unto death; whether for the quickening of sinners, and reviving of saints; or whether for the hardening of men, and leaving them without excuse to perish in their sins, both in the Jewish and Gentile world.

3. JAMISON, “(Mat_24:35). Rain may to us seem lost when it falls on a desert, but it fulfils

some purpose of God. So the gospel word falling on the hard heart; it sometimes works a change

at last; and even if so, it leaves men without excuse. The full accomplishment of this verse, and

Isa_55:12, Isa_55:13, is, however, to be at the Jews’ final restoration and conversion of the

world (Isa_11:9-12; Isa_60:1-5, Isa_60:21).

4. CALVIN. “11.So shall my word be. The word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it

likewise “ out of the mouth” of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as his

instruments, that by their agency he may make known his will. But the authority of the promises is more

fully confirmed, when we are told that they proceed from the sacred mouth of God. Although, therefore,

he brings forward witnesses from the earth, he declares that all that they have promised shall be ratified

and sure; and, in order to impress more deeply on the minds of men the power and efficacy of preaching,

he declares that he does not cast that precious seed at random, but appoints it for a fixed purpose, and

consequently that we ought to entertain no doubt as to the effect; for there is nothing to which mortals are

more prone than to judge of God from themselves so as to withhold belief from his voice.

This doctrine must be frequently repeated and inculcated, that we may know that God will do what. he

hath once spoken. For this reason, when we hear the promises of God, we ought to consider what is his

design in them; so that, when he promises the free pardon of our sins, we may be fully assured that we

are reconciled through Christ. But, as the word of God is efficacious for the salvation of believers, so it is

abundantly efficacious for condemning the wicked; as Christ also teacheth, “ word which I have spoken,

that shall judge him at the last day.”

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

1.BARNES, “For ye shall go out with joy - This language is that which is properly applicable to the exiles in Babylon, but there can be no doubt that the prophet looks also to the future happier times of the Messiah (compare the notes at Isa_52:7).

The mountains and the hills - Language like this is common in Isaiah, where all nature is called on to rejoice, or where inanimate objects are represented as expressing their sympathy with the joy of the people of God (see the note at Isa_14:8; Isa_35:1-2, Isa_35:10; Isa_42:10-11; Isa_44:23). Indeed, this imagery is common in all poetry. Thus, Virgil:

Ipsi laetitia voces ad sidera jactant, Intonsi montes: ipsae jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arhusta. Ec. v. 62ff.

The untill’d mountains strike the echoing sky; And rocks and towers the triumph speed abroad. Wrangham

Such language occurs especially in the poetry of the Orientals. Thus, when the god Ramar was going to the desert, says Roberts, it was said to him, ‘The trees will watch for you; they will say, He is come, he is come; and the white flowers will clap their hands. The leaves as they shake will say, Come, come, and the thorny places will be changed into gardens of flowers.’

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands - To clap the hands is expressive of joy and rejoicing (compare 2Ki_11:12; Psa_47:1). Thus, in Psa_98:8, it is said:

Let the floods clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together.

Among the Jews the language was sometimes used to express malignant joy at the calamity of others (compare Job_27:3; Job_34:37; Lam_2:15; Eze_25:6). Here it is an expression of the universal rejoicing which would attend the extension of the kingdom of God on the earth.

2. CLARKE, “The mountains and the hills - These are highly poetical images to express a happy state attended with joy and exultation.

Ipsi laetitia voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes: ipsae jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arbusta. Virg. Ecl. 5:61.

“The mountain tops unshorn, the rocks rejoice; The lowly shrubs partake of human voice.” Dryden.

3. GILL, “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace,.... Though these words may literally respect the Jews' return from captivity to their own land, attended with joy and peace; as the preceding verse may respect the word of promise concerning it; as it is interpreted by the Targum, "for with joy shall ye go out from among the people, and with peace shall ye be brought to your own land;'' yet they may be spiritually applied to the conversion of men, in consequence of the word being made effectual, of which the deliverance from the Babylonish thraldom was a type; when men "go out" of a state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law; out of a state of darkness and ignorance; out of the pit of nature's misery and distress; out of themselves and their own righteousness; out of their own sinful ways, and from among the men of the world: and though here is a divine power exerted in all this, yet they go out freely, being led by the Spirit of God; who takes them by the hand as it were, and leads them in ways before unknown to them; he leads them to Christ,

his person, fulness, blood, and righteousness; to the house of God, and to the ordinances of it; and from one degree of grace to another, till he brings them to glory: all which is attended with "joy and peace" to themselves; finding themselves released from bondage, in a state of light and comfort, out of the horrible pit, and on a rock; brought to Christ, and clothed with his righteousness; to the angels in heaven, who rejoice over every sinner that repenteth; to the ministers of the Gospel, who are the instruments of their conversion; and to all the saints into whose fellowship they are brought; which joy is further illustrated by the following strong figures: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; or the people that dwell upon them: and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands; or clap with their branches; as the Targum, the tops of them, being moved with gentle breezes of wind, bow themselves, and the branches intertwining and clasping each other like hands and arms. Kimchi observes, that "mountains and hills" may signify the kings of the nations; and "the trees of the field" the people rejoicing at the deliverance of the Jews, as they pass along: it may be as well applied to the ministers of the word, and common believers rejoicing at the conversion of sinners, in whom as wonderful a change is wrought, as in the following cases. Vitringa interprets this of the apostles and ministers of the word going forth into the Gentile world, attended with joy in themselves, and among the converts there.

4. HENRY, “If we take a special view of the church, we shall find what great things God has done, and will do, for it (Isa_55:12, Isa_55:13): You shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace. This refers, (1.) To the deliverance and return of the Jews out of Babylon. They shall go out of their captivity, and be led forth towards their own land again. God will go before them as surely, though not as sensibly, as before their fathers in the pillar of cloud and fire. They shall go out, not with trembling, but with triumph, not with any regret to part with Babylon, or any fear of being fetched back, but with joy and peace. Their journey home over the mountains shall be pleasant, and they shall have the good-will and good wishes of all the countries they pass through. The hills and their inhabitants shall, as in a transport of joy, break forth into singing; and, if the people should altogether hold their peace, even the trees of the field would attend them with their applauses and acclamations. And, when they come to their own land, it shall be ready to bid them welcome; for, whereas they expected to find it all overgrown with briers and thorns, it shall be set with fir-trees and myrtle-trees: for, though it lay desolate, yet it enjoyed its sabbaths (Lev_26:34), which, when they were over, like the land after the sabbatical year, it was the better for. And this shall redound much to the honour of God and be to him for a name. But, (2.) Without doubt it looks further. This shall be for an everlasting sign, that it, [1.] The redemption of the Jews out of Babylon shall be a ratification of those promises that relate to gospel times. The accomplishment of the predictions relating to that great deliverance would be a pledge and earnest of the performance of all the other promises; for thereby it shall appear that he is faithful who has promised. [2.] It shall be a representation of the blessings promised and a type and figure of them. First, Gospel grace will set those at liberty that were in bondage to sin and Satan. They shall go out and be led forth. Christ shall make them free, and then they shall be free indeed. Secondly, It will fill those with joy that were melancholy. Psa_14:7, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The earth and the inferior part of the creation shall share in the joy of this salvation, Psa_94:11, Psa_94:12. Thirdly, It will make a great change in men's characters. Those that were as thorns and briers, good for nothing but the fire, nay, hurtful and vexatious, shall become graceful and useful as the fir-tree and the myrtle-tree. Thorns and briers came in with sin and were the fruits of the curse, Gen_3:18. The raising of pleasant trees in the room of them signifies the removal of the curse of the law and the introduction of gospel blessings. The church's enemies were as thorns and briers; but, instead of them, God will raise

up friends to be her protection and ornament. Or it may denote the world's growing better; instead of a generation of thorns and briers, there shall come up a generation of fir-trees and myrtles; the children shall be wiser and better than the parents. And, fourthly, in all this God shall be glorified. It shall be to him for a name, by which he will be made known and praised, and by it the people of God shall be encouraged. It shall be for an everlasting sign of God's favour to them, assuring them that, though it may for a time be clouded, it shall never be cut off. The covenant of grace is an everlasting covenant; for the present blessings of it are signs of everlasting ones.

5. JAMISON, “go out — from the various countries in which ye (the Jews) are scattered, to your own land (Eze_11:17).

led — by Messiah, your “Leader” (Isa_55:4; Isa_52:12; Mic_2:12, Mic_2:13).

mountains ... trees, etc. — images justly used to express the seeming sympathy of nature with the joy of God’s people. For, when sin is removed, the natural world shall be delivered from “vanity,” and be renewed, so as to be in unison with the regenerated moral world (Isa_44:23; Psa_98:8; Rom_8:19-22).

6. K&D, “The true point of comparison, however, is the energy with which the word is realized. Assuredly and irresistibly will the word of redemption be fulfilled. “For ye will go out with joy, and be led forth in peace: the mountains and the hills will break out before you into shouting, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn will cypresses shoot up, and instead of the fleabane will myrtles shoot up: and it will be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting memorial that will not be swept away.” “With joy,” i.e., without the hurry of fear (Isa_52:12); “in peace,” i.e., without having to fight their way through or flee. The

idea of the sufferer falls back in הובל behind that of a festal procession (Psa_45:15-16). In

applying the term kaph (hand) to the trees, the prophet had in his mind their kippo;th, or branches. The psalmist in Psa_98:8 transfers the figure created by our prophet to the waves of

the streams. Na‛a[tsu;ts (from na�‛ats, to sting) is probably no particular kind of thorn, such, for

example, as the fuller's thistle, but, as in Isa_7:19, briers and thorns generally. On sirpad, see

Ges. Thes.; we have followed the rendering, κόυζα, of the lxx. That this transformation of the

vegetation of the desert is not to be taken literally, any more than in Isa_41:17-20, is evident from the shouting of the mountains, and the clapping of hands on the part of the trees. On the other hand, however, the prophet says something more than that Israel will return home with such feelings of joy as will cause everything to appear transformed. Such promises as those which we find here and in Isa_41:19 and Isa_35:1-2, and such exhortations as those which we find in Isa_44:23; Isa_49:13, and Isa_52:9, arise from the consciousness, which was common to both prophets and apostles, that the whole creation will one day share in the liberty and glory of the children of God (Rom_8:21). This thought is dressed up sometimes in one for, and sometimes in another. The psalmists after the captivity borrowed the colours in which they

painted it from our prophet (see at Psa_96:1-13 and Psa_98:1-9). והיה is construed as a neuter

(cf., ראתיוP, Isa_45:8), referring to this festal transformation of the outer world on the festive

return of the redeemed. אות is treated in the attributive clause as a masculine, as if it came from

to make an incision, to crimp, as we have already indicated; but the Arabic a�yat, shows that ,אות

it comes from וה_, to point out, and is contracted from a[wa[yat, and therefore was originally a feminine.

7. CALVIN. “12.Therefore ye shall go out with joy. The Prophet concludes the subject of this chapter;

for, when he spoke of the mercy of God, his object was, to convince the Jews that the Lord would deliver

them. He now applies to his purpose what was contained in his discourse concerning the infinite

goodness of God, and shows that his thoughts are very unlike the thoughts of men. And the true way of

teaching is this, that we should apply general statements for present use. Finally, he treats of the

restoration of the people, which depended on the undeserved mercy of God.

The mountains and hills shall break out before you. By “ mountains and hills” he means that everything

which they shall meet in the journey, though in other respects it be injurious, shall aid those who shall

return to Jerusalem. They are metaphors, by which he shows that all the creatures bow to the will of God,

and rejoice and lend their aid to carry on his work. He alludes to the deliverance from Egypt, (Exo_14:22)

as is customary with the Prophets; for thus is it described by the Psalmist, “ mountains leaped like rams,

and the hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O sea, that thou fleddest, and Jordan, (Jos_3:16) that thou wast

driven back? (Psa_114:4) For the restoration of the Church may be regarded as a renovation of the whole

world, and in consequence of this, heaven and earth are said to be changed, as if their order were

reversed. But all this depended on former predictions, by which they had received a promise of their

return.

8. CHARLES SIMEON, “THE CHANGE WROUGHT BY THE GOSPEL

Isa_55:12-13. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall

break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn

shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord

for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

THE change wrought annually on the face of nature from desolation and barrenness to beauty and

fruitfulness, is a lively representation of the change effected by the Gospel of Christ. “The vain and the

snow descending on the earth” nourish the whole vegetable creation, and cause every part of it to spring

forth in its appointed season: and, in the same manner, “the word of God, dropping as the rain, and

distilling as the dew” upon the souls of men, infuses life into them, and renders them fruitful in every good

word and work. This is the parallel drawn by the prophet himself, who, expatiating on the subject,

predicts, under the image of the Jews’ return from Babylon, the progress of the Gospel in renovating the

intellectual and spiritual world. His words will lead us to consider,

I. The effects of the preached Gospel—

The civilizing of the world is a very small part of the work which the Gospel is intended to accomplish. It is

sent,

1. To inspire new feelings—

[Man in his natural state is an entire stranger to spiritual joy, or solid peace. The peace that flows from a

want of foresight or reflection, and the joy that consists in mere animal gratifications, he may possess: but

he is as destitute of spiritual enjoyments, as the brute creation are of intellectual pleasure. His state

however is wonderfully changed when he receives the word of God in truth. At first indeed he feels

trouble and anguish; but as soon as ever he has obtained a sense of his acceptance with God, his tears

are wiped away, and “the bones which were broken rejoice.” It frequently happens, especially where the

preceding sorrows have been deep, that the joy which succeeds them is rapturous and abundant. The

surprise of Peter, on the eve of his expected execution, was not unlike that of a new convert: suddenly, a

light shone in, upon him, and his chains fell off, and the prison doors flew open, and an angel conducted

him out, so that he could not persuade himself that he was awake, but thought he saw a vision: thus

when the new convert is first brought forth into light and liberty, and finds the obstacles, which had

seemed insurmountable, removed, he is ready to think it must be all a delusion: it is with him as with

those of old, “when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream: then was

our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing;” yea, “the very hills break forth before him into

singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands.” We must not however suppose, that all are equally

elated; or that the joy which any feel will continue with them: it will rather subside into a peaceful

tranquillity of mind: they may go out with joy; but they will be led forth with peace. The Saviour’s joy,

which is to be fulfilled in us, consisted rather in peace than exultation; and such is the legacy that he has

left to us [Note: Joh_17:13; Joh_14:27.]. At first we are like a stream rippling and murmuring near the

fountain head; but in our more advanced state we resemble rather the deepened river flowing with silent

majesty.]

2. To infuse new dispositions—

[A thorny bush is unproductive and worthless; as a brier is unseemly and injurious. The one is a just

image of the more decent of mankind; the other, of the more profane. All are low and grovelling in their

nature, having no desires beyond this present world; and too many, by their influence as well as by their

example, would impede the progress of those who are walking in the good way. The fir-tree on the other

hand lifts its head on high; while the myrtle diffuses its fragrance all around; and both of them retain their

verdure all the year: yet such shall the vilest of mankind become, when once they embrace the Gospel of

Christ. They shall soar to heaven with devout affections; they shall spread around them a sweet savour of

the knowledge of Christ; they shall be unfading ornaments in the place where they grow; and instead of

wounding, like the brier, all that come in contact with them, they shall, like the myrtle, emit the sweeter

fragrance the more they are bruised, and perfume, as it were, the very hand that bruises them.]

To impress our minds with a due esteem for the Gospel, let us proceed to consider,

II. The excellency of those effects—

There is an inherent excellence in holy dispositions, which, independent of the consequences flowing

from them to ourselves or to society, must render them amiable in our eyes. But, as the text limits our

views to the honour which accrues from them to God, we shall content ourselves with observing, that the

change effected by the Gospel is to the Lord,

1. An occasion of praise—

[None who are quickened and renewed by the word ever take the honour to themselves: all with one

voice cry, “He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God; therefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto

us, but unto thy name be the praise!” The greater the change that is wrought in any person’s heart, the

less will he be disposed to arrogate any thing to himself on account of it: and most of all, “when the top-

stone of the spiritual building shall be brought forth, will he shout, Grace, grace unto it!” From his first

acquaintance with divine truth will he begin to speak of God with love and gratitude. His own experience

will furnish him with an inexhaustible fund of praise and thanksgiving. Nor will his acknowledgments any

longer be a dull recital of an established creed, but the lively effusions of a grateful heart.

Now if that be deemed excellent, which causes the name of any human being to be held in estimation,

and to be transmitted to posterity with honour, how much more must that be excellent, which makes the

name of God to be reverenced and adored!]

2. A monument of glory—

[It is not in this world only that God is glorified by the dispensations of his grace: at the day of judgment

every saint will “be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.” “Christ will come to be glorified in

his saints, and admired in all that believe.” How sovereign will the grace of God appear to every one

amongst them, when each sees himself as a brand plucked out of the fire! What stupendous wisdom will

be discovered in the plan, whereby he has effected their restoration to his favour! What marvellous

patience will he appear to have exercised towards them under all their backslidings; and what unbounded

mercy in pardoning their multiplied transgressions! Nor will his power be less an object of admiration,

when it is seen how wonderfully it has been exerted in converting their souls, and in preserving them unto

his heavenly kingdom. Yea, as long as there shall exist one glorified saint in heaven, so long shall the

perfections of the Godhead be most eminently displayed in the salvation of sinful man.

How excellent then must that change be, which to all eternity shall be the brightest monument of the

Divine perfections! The work of creation is excellent, though it is so soon to pass away: but that, glorious

as it is, has no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth in the new creation.]

Infer—

1. What encouragement have men to hear the Gospel!

[As a person who had never seen the face of nature but in the depth of winter, would scarcely conceive it

possible that so great an alteration could take place in it as is annually made within the space of a few

weeks, so are many ready to imagine, that their hard and barren hearts are incapable of experiencing

such a change as God requires. But his word is as powerful as ever: it is still “like fire, or like a hammer

that breaketh the rock in pieces:” and though “it runs not, nor is glorified” to the same extent as in former

days, yet wherever it is preached in sincerity and truth, there are some to attest its efficacy, and to prove,

that “it is the power of God to the salvation of men.” Let none then despair: for though “the treasure be put

into an earthen vessel, God will display the excellency of his power by means of it:” he will plant the fir-

tree and the myrtle where nothing grew but thorns and briers; “he will make the wilderness like Eden, and

the desert like the garden of the Lord.”]

2. What a sure criterion have we whereby to judge of our state!

[An insensibility with respect to spiritual things characterizes the natural man; and a quickness of

perception with respect to them marks the person in whom the word of God has taken due effect. Have

we then surrendered up our false peace, and our carnal joy? and have we attained to a scriptural “joy and

peace in believing?” Have the creatures all around us been led, as it were, to sympathize with us, and

congratu- late us on the change? Look then next to the tempers and dispositions of the soul: have the low

grovelling desires of the carnal mind been made to ascend to heaven; and the natural aversion to holy

exercises been exchanged for an unfeigned delight in them? In short, is God now glorified in the whole of

our deportment, so that, whosoever beholds our spirit and conduct is constrained to admire the grace of

God in us? Doubtless, this change is not perfect in any; nor can we expect it to be so, while we carry

about with us this body of sin and death: but is the change begun! and is it carrying on towards perfection!

O that on considering these questions we might have the testimony of our consciences that things are so!

But if there be no evidence of these things, let us beware, lest, instead of being eternal monuments of

God’s love, we be objects of his everlasting displeasure.]

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown,

for an everlasting sign,

that will endure forever.”

1.BARNES, “Instead of the thorn - (Compare the notes at Isa_11:6-8; Isa_35:1-2;

Isa_41:19; Isa_42:20). The word rendered ‘thorn’ (נעצוץ na‛a[tsu�ts) occurs only here and in Isa_7:19. It evidently means a thorn, hedge, or thorny-bush.

Shall come up the fir tree - (ברוש bero�sh; see the notes at Isa_14:8; Isa_37:24; Isa_60:13; Zec_11:2). A change would be produced in the moral condition of man as great as if in the natural world the rough and useless thorn should be succeeded by the beautiful and useful cypress (compare Isa_60:13).

And instead of the brier - The brier is everywhere an emblem of desolation, and of an uncultivated country (see Isa_5:6; Isa_7:23-24).

The myrtle-tree - (see the notes at Isa_41:19). The idea here is, that under the gospel the change would be as great in the moral world as if a field all overrun with briers should at once become thick set with myrtles.

And it shall be to the Lord - The reference here is to all that had been said in the chapter. The gift of the Messiah; the universal offer of the gospel; the bestowing of pardon; the turning of the wicked unto God; and the great and salutary changes produced by the gospel, would all be a memorial of the benevolence and glory of Yahweh.

For a name - It should tend to diffuse his name; to spread abroad a knowledge of himself.

An everlasting sign - On the meaning of the word rendered ‘sign,’ see the notes at Isa_7:14, Here it means that it would be an eternal memorial of the mercy and goodness of Yahweh.

That shall not be cut off - The gospel with its rich and varied blessings shall erect enduring monuments in the earth, to the praise and honor of God. It will be more enduring as a memorial of him than all altars and statues, and temples erected to celebrate and perpetuate idolatry; as wide-diffused as are his works of creation, and more fruitful of blessings than anything elsewhere conferred on man.

2. CLARKE, “Instead of the thorn “Instead of the thorny bushes” - These likewise (see note on Isa_55:12, and on Isa_54:11 (note)) are general poetical images, expressing a great and happy change for the better. The wilderness turned into a paradise, Lebanon into Carmel: the desert of the Gentiles watered with the heavenly snow and rain, which fail not to have their due effect, and becoming fruitful in piety and righteousness: or, as the Chaldee gives the moral sense of the emblem, “instead of the wicked shall arise the just; and instead of sinners, such as fear to sin.” Compare Isa_35:1, Isa_35:2; Isa_41:19.

And instead of - The conjunction ו vau is added, ותחת vetachath, in forty-five MSS. of

Kennicott’s several of De Rossi’s, and five editions; and it is acknowledged by all the ancient Versions. The Masoretes therefore might have safely received it into the text, and not have referred us for it to the margin. But this is no uncommon case with them. Even in our own Version the best reading is very often found in the margin.

3. GILL, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree,.... The meaning of which either is, that instead of wicked men, comparable to briers and thorns for their being fruitless and useless, harmful and pernicious, under a curse, and their end to be burned, there good men, comparable to fruitful and beautiful trees, shall be; which was eminently true when the Gospel was preached in the Gentile world; see Isa_35:1 so the Targum, "instead of the ungodly shall rise up righteous persons, and instead of sinners shall rise up such as are afraid to sin;'' or else the sense is, that such who are like briers and thorns in their nature state, being no better than others, but children of wrath, even as others, shall by the grace of God be made like fir and myrtle trees; as great a change shall be wrought in them as if briers and thorns were changed into fir and myrtle trees; to which the saints are sometimes compared, particularly to myrtle trees, Zec_1:10, because goodly to look at, of a sweet smell, ever green, flourish in watery places, and bring forth fruit: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off; that is, these persons, who are become and made like to fir and myrtle trees, shall be called by the name of the Lord, shall bear his name, support his Gospel and interest, and be for his praise, and to the glory of his grace, who has done such great and wonderful things for them;

and shall be for an everlasting sign and monument of the love, grace, power, and faithfulness of God, and for a sure token that the church and people of God shall not be cut off, but that God will have a people to serve him as long as the sun and moon endure.

4. JAMISON, “thorn — emblem of the wicked (2Sa_23:6; Mic_7:4).

fir tree — the godly (Isa_60:13; Psa_92:12). Compare as to the change wrought, Rom_6:19.

brier — emblem of uncultivation (Isa_5:6).

myrtle — Hebrew, Hedes, from which comes Hedassah, the original name of Esther. Type of

the Christian Church; for it is a lowly, though beautiful, fragrant, and evergreen shrub (Psa_92:13, Psa_92:14).

for a name ... everlasting sign — a perpetual memorial to the glory of Jehovah (Jer_13:11; Jer_33:9).

5. CALVIN. “13.Instead of the bramble (91) shall come up the fir-tree. He still extols the power of God,

which would be visible in the restoration of the people; for he shows that the change will be such that they

shall have an easy road to return. Some explain it allegorically, and suppose that by “” are meant men

who wish to do injury, and who inflict wounds on others, and that these shall be “” that is, trees that bear

fruit and that are useful to their neighbors; but in expositions of that kind ingenuity is carried to excess.

When they say that these things relate to the kingdom of Christ, and on that account ought to be

understood in a spiritual sense, I agree with them; for the Prophet begins with the departure from

Babylon, and includes the whole condition of the Church, till Christ was manifested to the world. But the

propriety of that allegory must not therefore be admitted; for he speaks of the departure from Babylon,

and, in order to open it up for his people, he says that he will remove every obstacle, and will supply them

with everything necessary, so that they shall suffer no inconvenience. In like manner, when Christ

promises the benefit of redemption, he likewise takes away everything that would injure or retard, and

even turns those things to a different and totally opposite purpose, that from them also they may receive

some benefit. All things (Rom_8:28) tend to the advantage of believers, and those things which would

otherwise be injurious and destructive, are employed by God as remedies to purify them, that they may

not be devoted to the world, but may become more ready and cheerful in the service of their Master. (92)

And shall be to Jehovah for a name. When he says that it shall be to God “ a name,” he shows what is the

design of the restoration of the Church. It is, that the name of God may be more illustrious among men,

and that the remembrance of him may flourish and be maintained. On this account he adds that it shall be

a perpetual sign, that is, a monument, and, as we commonly say, a memorial; and although, amidst these

tempests, the Church be tossed and agitated in various ways, yet, because the Lord wishes that the

remembrance of his name may be everlasting, he will guard and defend her.

(91) “ of the thorn.” Eng. Ver.

(92) “Au service de leur maistre.”

New International Version (NIV)

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